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diff --git a/old/54187-0.txt b/old/54187-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 0101138..0000000 --- a/old/54187-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,15140 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The State of Society in France Before the -Revolution of 1789, by Alexis de Tocqueville, Translated by Reeve Henry - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: The State of Society in France Before the Revolution of 1789 - And the Causes Which Led to That Event - - -Author: Alexis de Tocqueville - - - -Release Date: February 17, 2017 [eBook #54187] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STATE OF SOCIETY IN FRANCE -BEFORE THE REVOLUTION OF 1789*** - - -E-text prepared by Cindy Horton, Clarity, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/stateofsocietyin00tocquoft - - - - - -THE STATE OF SOCIETY IN FRANCE BEFORE THE REVOLUTION OF 1789 - -And the Causes Which Led to That Event - -by - -ALEXIS de TOCQUEVILLE - -Member of the French Academy - -Translated by Henry Reeve, D.C.L. - -Third Edition - - - - - - -London -John Murray, Albemarle Street -1888 - -Printed by -Spottiswoode and Co., New-Street Square -London - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - PAGE - - TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION [5] - - PRELIMINARY NOTICE [9] - - - _BOOK I._ - - CHAPTER - - I. Opposing Judgments passed on the French Revolution at its - Origin 1 - - II. The Fundamental and Final Object of the Revolution was not, - as has been supposed, the destruction of Religious - Authority and the weakening of Political Power 5 - - III. Showing that the French Revolution was a Political - Revolution which followed the course of Religious - Revolutions, and for what Reasons 9 - - IV. Showing that nearly the whole of Europe had had precisely - the same Institutions, and that these Institutions were - everywhere falling to pieces 12 - - V. What was the peculiar scope of the French Revolution 16 - - - _BOOK II._ - - I. Why Feudal Rights had become more odious to the People in - France than in any other country 19 - - II. Showing that Administrative Centralisation is an - Institution anterior in France to the Revolution of 1789, - and not the product of the Revolution or of the Empire, - as is commonly said 28 - - III. Showing that what is now called Administrative Tutelage was - an Institution in France anterior to the Revolution 36 - - IV. Administrative Jurisdiction and the Immunity of Public - Officers are Institutions of France anterior to the - Revolution 45 - - V. Showing how Centralisation had been able to introduce - itself among the ancient Institutions of France, and to - supplant without destroying them 50 - - VI. The Administrative Habits of France before the Revolution 54 - - VII. Of all European Nations France was already that in which - the Metropolis had acquired the greatest preponderance - over the Provinces, and had most completely absorbed the - whole Empire 63 - - VIII. France was the Country in which Men had become the most - alike 67 - - IX. Showing how Men thus similar were more divided than ever - into small Groups, estranged from and indifferent to each - other 71 - - X. The Destruction of Political Liberty and the Estrangement - of Classes were the causes of almost all the disorders - which led to the Dissolution of the Old Society of France 84 - - XI. Of the Species of Liberty which existed under the Old - Monarchy, and of the Influence of that Liberty on the - Revolution 94 - - XII. Showing that the Condition of the French Peasantry, - notwithstanding the progress of Civilisation, was - sometimes worse in the Eighteenth Century than it had - been in the Thirteenth 105 - - XIII. Showing that towards the Middle of the Eighteenth Century - Men of Letters became the leading Political Men of - France, and of the effects of this occurrence 119 - - XIV. Showing how Irreligion had become a general and dominant - passion amongst the French of the Eighteenth Century, and - what influence this fact had on the character of the - Revolution 128 - - XV. That the French aimed at Reform before Liberty 136 - - XVI. Showing that the Reign of Louis XVI. was the most - prosperous epoch of the old French Monarchy, and how this - very prosperity accelerated the Revolution 146 - - XVII. Showing that the French People were excited to revolt by - the means taken to relieve them 155 - - XVIII. Concerning some practices by which the Government completed - the Revolutionary Education of the People of France 162 - - XIX. Showing that a great Administrative Revolution had preceded - the Political Revolution, and what were the consequences - it produced 166 - - XX. Showing that the Revolution proceeded naturally from the - existing State of France 175 - - - SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. - - On the Pays d’États, and especially on the Constitutions of - Languedoc 182 - - - _BOOK III._ - - I. Of the violent and undefined Agitation of the Human Mind at - the moment when the French Revolution broke out 192 - - II. How this vague perturbation of the Human Mind suddenly - became in France a positive passion, and what form this - passion at first assumed 201 - - III. How the Parliaments of France, following precedent, - overthrew the Monarchy 205 - - IV. The Parliaments discover that they have lost all Authority, - just when they thought themselves masters of the Kingdom 224 - - V. Absolute Power being subdued, the true spirit of the - Revolution forthwith became manifest 229 - - VI. The preparation of the instructions to the Members of the - States-General drove the conception of a Radical - Revolution home to the mind of the People 240 - - VII. How, on the Eve of the Convocation of the National - Assembly, the mind of the Nation was more enlarged, and - its spirit raised 243 - - - NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS 247 - - - - -TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE - -TO THE SECOND EDITION. - - -An interval of about seventeen years has elapsed since the first -publication of this book in France, and of the translation of it, which -appeared simultaneously, in England. The English version has not been -republished, and has long been out of print. But the work itself has -retained a lasting place in the political literature of Europe. - -The historical events which have occurred since the date of its first -publication have again riveted the attention of every thinking man on -the astonishing phenomena of the French Revolution, which has resumed -in these later days its mysterious and destructive course; and a deeper -interest than ever seems to attach itself to the first causes of this -long series of political and social convulsions, which appear to be as -far as ever from their termination. - -Nor is this interest confined to the state of France alone; for at each -succeeding period of our contemporary annals the operation and effects -of the same causes may be traced in other countries, and the principles -which the author of this book discerned with unerring sagacity derive -fresh illustrations every day from the course of events both abroad and -at home. - -For this reason, mainly, this translation is republished at the present -time, in the hope that it may be read by men of the younger generation, -who were not in being when it first appeared, and that some of those -who read it before may be led by the light of passing events to read -it again. For I venture to say that in no other work on the French -Revolution has the art of scientific analysis been applied with equal -skill to the genesis of these great changes: no other writer has so -skilfully traced the continuous operation of the causes, long anterior -to the Revolution itself, which have gradually reduced one of the -greatest monarchies of Europe to its present condition. - -Are we to learn from this stern lesson of experience that the hopes -of progress are closely united to the germs of dissolution, and that -the great transformation hailed with so much enthusiasm eighty-four -years ago was but the prelude of a final catastrophe; that the nation -which was the first to plunge into this new order of things, by -the destruction of all that it once loved and revered, is also the -first to make manifest its fatal results; and that the last results -of civilisation are no preservative against the decline of empires? -These pages may suggest such reflections, for if the vices and abuses -of political society in France before the Revolution were, in some -measure, peculiar to herself, the elements of destruction which the -Revolution let loose upon the world are common to all civilised nations. - -In the present edition, moreover, it appeared to be desirable to make -a considerable addition to the volume published in 1856. At the time -of his death in the spring of 1859, M. de Tocqueville had made some -progress in the continuation of his work, though his labour advanced -very slowly, from the minute and conscientious care with which he -conducted his researches and elaborated his thoughts. Seven chapters -of the new volume were, however, found among his papers by his friend -and literary executor, M. Gustave de Beaumont, in a state approaching -to completeness; and these posthumous chapters were published in the -seventh volume of the collected edition of M. de Tocqueville’s works. -They have not before been translated, and they are, I believe, but -little known in this country. - -These chapters are not inferior, I think, to any of the works of their -author in originality and interest; and they have the merit of bringing -down his Survey of the State of France before the Revolution to the -very moment which preceded the convocation of the States-General. -I have therefore included these posthumous chapters in the present -edition, and they form a Third Book, in addition to the two books of -the original volume. - - HENRY REEVE. - - _April 1873._ - - - - -PRELIMINARY NOTICE - - -The book I now publish is not a history of the French Revolution; that -history has been written with too much success for me to attempt to -write it again. This volume is a study on the Revolution. - -The French people made, in 1789, the greatest effort which was ever -attempted by any nation to cut, so to speak, their destiny in halves, -and to separate by an abyss that which they had heretofore been from -that which they sought to become hereafter. For this purpose they took -all sorts of precautions to carry nothing of their past with them into -their new condition; they submitted to every species of constraint in -order to fashion themselves otherwise than their fathers were; they -neglected nothing which could efface their identity. - -I have always thought that they had succeeded in this singular attempt -much less than was supposed abroad, and less than they had at first -supposed themselves. I was convinced that they had unconsciously -retained from the former state of society most of the sentiments, the -habits, and even the opinions, by means of which they had effected the -destruction of that state of things; and that, without intending it, -they had used its remains to rebuild the edifice of modern society, -insomuch that, fully to understand the Revolution and its work, we must -forget for an instant that France which we see before us, and examine -in her sepulchre that France which is no more. This is what I have -endeavoured to do; but I have had more difficulty than I could have -supposed in accomplishing this task. - -The first ages of the French Monarchy, the Middle Ages, and the Revival -of Letters have each given rise to vast researches and profound -disquisitions which have revealed to us not only the events of those -periods of history, but the laws, the customs, and the spirit of the -Government and the nation in those eras. But no one has yet taken the -trouble to investigate the eighteenth century in the same manner and -with the same minuteness. We suppose that we are thoroughly conversant -with the French society of that date, because we clearly distinguish -whatever glittered on its surface; we possess in detail the lives -of the most eminent persons of that day, and the ingenuity or the -eloquence of criticism has familiarised us with the compositions of the -great writers who adorned it. But as for the manner in which public -affairs were carried on, the practical working of institutions, the -exact relation in which the different classes of society stood to each -other, the condition and the feelings of those classes which were as -yet neither seen nor heard beneath the prevailing opinions and manners -of the country,--all our ideas are confused and often inaccurate. - -I have undertaken to reach the core of this state of society under -the old monarchy of France, which is still so near us in the lapse of -years, but concealed from us by the Revolution. - -For this purpose I have not only read over again the celebrated books -which the eighteenth century produced, I have also studied a multitude -of works less known and less worthy to be known, but which, from the -negligence of their composition, disclose, perhaps, even better than -more finished productions, the real instincts of the time. I have -applied myself to investigate thoroughly all the public documents by -which the French may, at the approach of the Revolution, have shown -their opinions and their tastes. The regular reports of the meetings -of the States, and subsequently of the Provincial Assemblies, have -supplied me with a large quantity of evidence. I have especially -made great use of the Instructions drawn up by the Three Orders in -1789. These Instructions, which form in the original a long series of -manuscript volumes, will remain as the testament of the old society of -France, the supreme record of its wishes, the authentic declaration of -its last intentions. Such a document is unique in history. Yet this -alone has not satisfied me. - -In countries in which the Administrative Government is already -powerful, there are few opinions, desires, or sorrows--there are few -interests or passions--which are not sooner or later stripped bare -before it. In the archives of such a Government, not only an exact -notion of its procedure may be acquired, but the whole country is -exhibited. Any stranger who should have access to all the confidential -correspondence of the Home Department and the Prefectures of France -would soon know more about the French than they know themselves. In the -eighteenth century the administration of the country, as will be seen -from this book, was highly centralised, very powerful, prodigiously -active. It was incessantly aiding, preventing, permitting. It had much -to promise--much to give. Its influence was already felt in a thousand -ways, not only on the general conduct of affairs, but on the condition -of families and the private life of every individual. Moreover, as this -administration was without publicity, men were not afraid to lay bare -before its eyes even their most secret infirmities. I have spent a -great deal of time in studying what remains of its proceedings, both at -Paris and in several provinces.[1] - -There, as I expected, I have found the whole structure of the old -monarchy still in existence, with its opinions, its passions, its -prejudices, and its usages. There every man spoke his mind and -disclosed his innermost thoughts. I have thus succeeded in acquiring -information on the former state of society, which those who lived in it -did not possess, for I had before me that which had never been exposed -to them. - -As I advanced in these researches I was surprised perpetually to find -again in the France of that time many of the characteristic features of -the France of our own. I met with a multitude of feelings which I had -supposed to be the offspring of the Revolution--a multitude of ideas -which I had believed to originate there--a multitude of habits which -are attributed to the Revolution alone. Everywhere I found the roots -of the existing state of French society deeply imbedded in the old -soil. The nearer I came to 1789, the more distinctly I discerned the -spirit which had presided over the formation, the birth, and the growth -of the Revolution; I gradually saw the whole aspect of the Revolution -uncovered before me; already it announced its temperament--its -genius--itself. There, too, I found not only the reason of what it -was about to perform in its first effort, but still more, perhaps, an -intimation of what it was eventually to leave behind it. For the French -Revolution has had two totally distinct phases: the first, during which -the French seemed eager to abolish everything in the past; the second, -when they sought to resume a portion of what they had relinquished. -Many of the laws and political practices of the old monarchy thus -suddenly disappeared in 1789, but they occur again some years later, as -some rivers are lost in the earth to burst forth again lower down, and -bear the same waters to other shores. - -The peculiar object of the work I now submit to the public is to -explain why this great Revolution, which was in preparation at the same -time over almost the whole continent of Europe, broke out in France -sooner than elsewhere; why it sprang spontaneously from the society it -was about to destroy; and, lastly, how the old French Monarchy came to -fall so completely and so abruptly. - -It is not my intention that the work I have commenced should stop -short at this point. I hope, if time and my own powers permit it, to -follow, through the vicissitudes of this long Revolution, these same -Frenchmen with whom I have lived so familiarly under the old monarchy, -and whom that state of society had formed--to see them modified and -transformed by the course of events, but without changing their nature, -and constantly appearing before us with features somewhat different, -but ever to be recognised. - -With them I shall proceed to review that first epoch of 1789, when -the love of equality and that of freedom shared their hearts--when -they sought to found not only the institutions of democracy, but -the institutions of freedom--not only to destroy privileges, but to -acknowledge and to sanction rights: a time of youth, of enthusiasm, of -pride, of generous and sincere passion, which, in spite of its errors, -will live for ever in the memory of men, and which will still long -continue to disturb the slumbers of those who seek to corrupt or to -enslave them. - -Thus rapidly following the track of this same Revolution, I shall -attempt to show by what events, by what faults, by what miscarriages, -this same French people was led at last to relinquish its first aim, -and, forgetful of freedom, to aspire only to become the equal servants -of the World’s Master--how a Government, stronger and far more absolute -than that which the Revolution had overthrown, grasped and concentrated -all the powers of the nation, suppressed the liberties which had -been so dearly bought, putting in their place the counterfeit of -freedom--calling ‘sovereignty of the people’ the suffrages of electors -who can neither inform themselves nor concert their operations, nor, -in fact, choose--calling ‘vote of taxes’ the assent of mute and -enslaved assemblies; and while thus robbing the nation of the right of -self-government, of the great securities of law, of freedom of thought, -of speech, and of the pen--that is, of all the most precious and the -most noble conquests of 1789--still daring to assume that mighty name. - -I shall pause at the moment when the Revolution appears to me to have -nearly accomplished its work and given birth to the modern society -of France. That society will then fall under my observation: I shall -endeavour to point out in what it resembles the society which preceded -it, in what it differs, what we have lost in this immense displacement -of our institutions, what we have gained by it, and, lastly, what may -be our future. - -A portion of this second work is sketched out, though still unworthy to -be offered to the public. Will it be given me to complete it? Who can -say? The destiny of men is far more obscure than that of nations. - -I hope I have written this book without prejudice, but I do not profess -to have written it without passion. No Frenchman should speak of his -country and think of this time unmoved. I acknowledge that in studying -the old society of France in each of its parts I have never entirely -lost sight of the society of more recent times. I have sought not only -to discover the disease of which the patient died, but also the means -by which life might have been preserved. I have imitated that medical -analysis which seeks in each expiring organ to catch the laws of life. -My object has been to draw a picture strictly accurate, and at the -same time instructive. Whenever I have met amongst our progenitors -with any of those masculine virtues which we most want and which we -least possess--such as a true spirit of independence, a taste for -great things, faith in ourselves and in a cause--I have placed them in -relief: so, too, when I have found in the laws, the opinions, and the -manners of that time traces of some of those vices which after having -consumed the former society of France still infest us, I have carefully -brought them to the light, in order that, seeing the evil they have -done us, it might better be understood what evils they may still -engender. To accomplish this object I confess I have not feared to -wound either persons, or classes, or opinions, or recollections of the -past, however worthy of respect they may be. I have done so often with -regret, but always without remorse. May those whom I have thus perhaps -offended forgive me in consideration of the honest and disinterested -object which I pursue. - -Many will perhaps accuse me of showing in this book a very unseasonable -love of freedom--a thing for which it is said that no one any longer -cares in France. - -I shall only beg those who may address to me this reproach to consider -that this is no recent inclination of my mind. More than twenty years -ago, speaking of another community, I wrote almost textually the -following observations. - -Amidst the darkness of the future three truths may be clearly -discovered. The first is, that all the men of our time are impelled -by an unknown force which they may hope to regulate and to check, but -not to conquer--a force which sometimes gently moves them, sometimes -hurries them along, to the destruction of aristocracy. The second is, -that of all the communities in the world those which will always be -least able permanently to escape from absolute government are precisely -the communities in which aristocracy has ceased to exist, and can never -exist again. Lastly, the third is, that despotism nowhere produces -more pernicious effects than in these same communities, for more than -any other form of government despotism favours the growth of all the -vices to which such societies are specially liable, and thus throws an -additional weight on that side to which, by their natural inclination, -they were already prone. - -Men in such countries, being no longer connected together by any -ties of caste, of class, of corporation, of family, are but too -easily inclined to think of nothing but their private interests, -ever too ready to consider themselves only, and to sink into the -narrow precincts of self, in which all public virtue is extinguished. -Despotism, instead of combating this tendency, renders it irresistible, -for it deprives its subjects of every common passion, of every mutual -want, of all necessity of combining together, of all occasions of -acting together. It immures them in private life: they already tended -to separation; despotism isolates them: they were already chilled in -their mutual regard; despotism reduces them to ice. - -In such societies, in which nothing is stable, every man is incessantly -stimulated by the fear of falling and by eagerness to rise; and as -money, while it has become the principal mark by which men are classed -and distinguished, has acquired an extraordinary mobility, passing -without cessation from hand to hand, transforming the condition of -persons, raising or lowering that of families, there is scarcely a -man who is not compelled to make desperate and continual efforts to -retain or to acquire it. The desire to be rich at any cost, the love of -business, the passion of lucre, the pursuit of comfort and of material -pleasures, are therefore in such communities the prevalent passions. -They are easily diffused through all classes, they penetrate even to -those classes which had hitherto been most free from them, and would -soon enervate and degrade them all, if nothing checked their influence. -But it is of the very essence of despotism to favour and extend that -influence. These debilitating passions assist its work: they divert and -engross the imaginations of men away from public affairs, and cause -them to tremble at the bare idea of a revolution. Despotism alone can -lend them the secrecy and the shade which put cupidity at its ease, and -enable men to make dishonourable gains whilst they brave dishonour. -Without despotic government such passions would be strong: with it they -are sovereign. - -Freedom alone, on the contrary, can effectually counteract in -communities of this kind the vices which are natural to them, and -restrain them on the declivity along which they glide. For freedom -alone can withdraw the members of such a community from the isolation -in which the very independence of their condition places them by -compelling them to act together. Freedom alone can warm and unite them -day by day by the necessity of mutual agreement, of mutual persuasion, -and mutual complaisance in the transaction of their common affairs. -Freedom alone can tear them from the worship of money, and the petty -squabbles of their private interests, to remind them and make them -feel that they have a Country above them and about them. Freedom alone -can sometimes supersede the love of comfort by more energetic and more -exalted passions--can supply ambition with larger objects than the -acquisition of riches--can create the light which enables us to see and -to judge the vices and the virtues of mankind. - -Democratic communities which are not free may be rich, refined, -adorned, magnificent, powerful by the weight of their uniform mass; -they may contain many private merits--good fathers of families, honest -traders, estimable men of property; nay, many good Christians will be -found there, for their country is not of this world, and the glory of -their faith is to produce such men amidst the greatest depravity of -manners and under the worst government. The Roman Empire in its extreme -decay was full of such men. But that which, I am confident, will never -be found in such societies is a great citizen, or, above all, a great -people; nay, I do not hesitate to affirm that the common level of the -heart and the intellect will never cease to sink as long as equality of -conditions and despotic power are combined there. - -Thus I thought and thus I wrote twenty years ago. I confess that since -that time nothing has occurred in the world to induce me to think or to -write otherwise. Having expressed the good opinion I had of Freedom at -a time when Freedom was in favour, I may be allowed to persist in that -opinion though she be forsaken. - -Let it also be considered that even in this I am less at variance with -most of my antagonists than perhaps they themselves suppose. Where -is the man who, by nature, should have so mean a soul as to prefer -dependence on the caprices of one of his fellow-creatures to obedience -to laws which he has himself contributed to establish, provided that -his nation appear to him to possess the virtues necessary to use -freedom aright? There is no such man. Despots themselves do not deny -the excellence of freedom, but they wish to keep it all to themselves, -and maintain that all other men are utterly unworthy of it. Thus it -is not on the opinion which may be entertained of freedom that this -difference subsists, but on the greater or the less esteem we may have -for mankind; and it may be said with strict accuracy that the taste -a man may show for absolute government bears an exact ratio to the -contempt he may profess for his countrymen. I pause before I can be -converted to that opinion. - -I may add, I think, without undue pretensions, that the volume now -published is the product of very extended labours. Sometimes a short -chapter has cost me more than a year of researches. I might have -surcharged my pages with notes, but I have preferred to insert them -in a limited number at the end of the volume, with a reference to the -pages of the text to which they relate. In these notes the reader will -find some illustrations and proofs of what I have advanced. I could -largely augment the quantity of them if this book should appear to -require it. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[1] I have more especially used the archives of some of the great -Intendancies, particularly that of Tours, which are very complete and -relate to a very extensive district placed in the centre of France, and -peopled by a million of inhabitants. My thanks are due to the young -and able keeper of these records, M. Grandmaison. Other districts, -amongst them that of the Île-de-France, have shown me that business was -transacted in the same manner in the greater part of the kingdom. - - - - -STATE OF SOCIETY IN FRANCE - -BEFORE THE - -REVOLUTION OF 1789. - - - - -_BOOK I._ - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - OPPOSING JUDGMENTS PASSED ON THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AT ITS ORIGIN. - - -Nothing is better fitted to give a lesson in modesty to philosophers -and statesmen than the history of the French Revolution; for never were -there events more important, longer in ripening, more fully prepared, -or less foreseen. - -The great Frederick himself, with all his genius, failed to perceive -what was coming, and was almost in contact with the event without -seeing it. Nay, more, he even acted in the spirit of the Revolution -beforehand, and was in some sort its precursor, and already its -agent; yet he did not recognise its approach, and when at length -it made its appearance, the new and extraordinary features which -were to distinguish its aspect, amidst the countless crowd of human -revolutions, still passed unheeded. - -The curiosity of all other countries was on the stretch. Everywhere -an indistinct conception arose amongst the nations that a new period -was at hand, and vague hopes were excited of great changes and -reforms; but no one as yet had any suspicion of what the Revolution -was really to become. Princes and their ministers lacked even the -confused presentiment by which the masses were agitated; they beheld -in the Revolution only one of those periodical disorders to which the -constitutions of all nations are subject, and of which the only result -is to open fresh paths for the policy of their neighbours. Even when -they did chance to express a true opinion on the events before them, -they did so unconsciously. Thus the principal sovereigns of Germany -assembled at Pillnitz in 1791, proclaimed indeed that the danger which -threatened royalty in France was common to all the established powers -of Europe, and that all were threatened by the same peril; but in fact -they believed nothing of the kind. The secret records of the period -prove that they held this language only as a specious pretext to cover -their real designs, or at least to colour them in the eyes of the -multitude. - -As for themselves, they were convinced that the French Revolution was -an accident merely local and temporary, which they had only to turn to -good account. With this notion they laid plans, made preparations, and -contracted secret alliances; they quarrelled among themselves for the -division of their anticipated spoils; split into factions, entered into -combinations, and were prepared for almost every event, except that -which was impending. - -The English indeed, taught by their own history and enlightened by -the long practice of political freedom, perceived dimly, as through a -thick veil, the approaching spectre of a great revolution; but they -were unable to distinguish its real shape, and the influence it was so -soon to exercise upon the destinies of the world and upon their own -was unforeseen. Arthur Young, who travelled over France just as the -Revolution was on the point of breaking out, and who regarded it as -imminent, so entirely mistook its real character, that he thought it -was a question whether it would not increase existing privileges. ‘As -for the nobility and clergy,’ says he, ‘if this Revolution were to make -them still more preponderant, I think it would do more harm than good.’ - -Burke, whose genius was illuminated by the hatred with which the -Revolution inspired him from its birth, Burke himself hesitated, for a -moment uncertain, at the sight. His first prediction was that France -would be enervated, and almost annihilated by it. ‘France is, at -this time, in a political light, to be considered as expunged out of -the system of Europe; whether she could ever appear in it again as a -leading power, was not easy to determine; but at present he considered -France as not politically existing; and, most assuredly, it would take -up much time to restore her to her former active existence. _Gallos -quoque in bellis floruisse audivimus_, might possibly be the language -of the rising generation.’[2] - -The judgment of those on the spot was not less erroneous than that -of distant observers. On the eve of the outbreak of the Revolution, -men in France had no distinct notion of what it would do. Amidst the -numerous instructions to the delegates of the States General I have -found but two which manifest some degree of apprehension of the people. -The fears expressed all relate to the preponderance likely to be -retained by royalty, or the Court, as it was still called. The weakness -and the short duration of the States General were a source of anxiety, -and fears were entertained that they might be subjected to violence. -The nobility were especially agitated by these fears. Several of their -instructions provide, ‘The Swiss troops shall take an oath never to -bear arms against the citizens, not even in case of riot or revolt.’ -Only let the States General be free, and all abuses would easily be -destroyed; the reform to be made was immense, but easy. - -Meanwhile the Revolution pursued its course. By degrees the head -of the monster became visible, its strange and terrible aspect was -disclosed; after destroying political institutions it abolished civil -institutions also; after changing the laws it changed the manners, the -customs, and even the language of France; after overthrowing the fabric -of government it shook the foundations of society, and rose against -the Almighty himself. The Revolution soon overflowed the boundaries -of France with a vehemence hitherto unknown, with new tactics, with -sanguinary doctrines, with _armed opinions_--to use the words of -Pitt--with an inconceivable force which struck down the barriers of -empires, shattered the crowns of Europe, trampled on its people, -though, strange to say, it won them to its cause; and, as all these -things came to pass, the judgment of the world changed. That which at -first had seemed to the princes and statesmen of Europe to be one of -the accidents common in the life of a nation, now appeared to them an -event so unprecedented, so contrary to all that had ever happened in -the world, and, at the same time, so wide-spread, so monstrous, and -so incomprehensible, that the human mind was lost in amazement at the -spectacle. Some believed that this unknown power, which nothing seemed -to foster or to destroy, which no one was able to check, and which -could not check itself, must drive all human society to its final and -complete dissolution. Many looked upon it as the visible action of the -devil upon earth. ‘The French Revolution has a Satanic character,’ says -M. de Maistre, as early as 1797. Others, on the contrary, perceived -in it a beneficent design of Providence to change the face not only -of France but of the world, and to create, as it were, a new era of -mankind. In many writers of that time may be seen somewhat of the -religious terror which Salvian felt at the incursion of the Barbarians. -Burke, reverting to his first impressions, exclaimed, ‘Deprived of -the old government, deprived in a manner of all government, France, -fallen as a monarchy, to common speculators, might have appeared more -likely to be an object of pity or insult, according to the disposition -of the circumjacent powers, than to be the scourge and terror of them -all; but out of the tomb of the murdered monarchy in France has arisen -a vast, tremendous, unformed spectre, in a far more terrific guise -than any which ever yet have overpowered the imagination, and subdued -the fortitude of man. Going straight forward to its end unappalled by -peril, unchecked by remorse, despising all common maxims and all common -means, that hideous phantom overpowered those who could not believe it -was possible she could at all exist,’ etc.[3] - -And was the event really as extraordinary as it appeared to those -who lived at the time when it took place? Was it so unprecedented, -so utterly subversive, so pregnant with new forms and ideas as they -imagined it to be? What was the real meaning, the real character--what -have been the permanent effects of this strange and terrible -Revolution? What did it, in reality, destroy, and what has it created? - -The proper moment for examining and deciding these questions seems now -to have arrived, and we are now standing at the precise point whence -this vast phenomenon may best be viewed and judged. We are far enough -removed from the Revolution to be but slightly touched by the passions -which blinded those who brought it about, and we are near enough to it -to enter into the spirit which caused these things to happen. Ere long -this will have become more difficult; for as all great revolutions, -when successful, sweep away the causes which engendered them, their -very success serves to render them unintelligible to later generations. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[2] Burke’s speech on the Army estimates, 1790. - -[3] Letters on a Regicide Peace. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - THE FUNDAMENTAL AND FINAL OBJECT OF THE REVOLUTION WAS NOT, AS HAS - BEEN SUPPOSED, THE DESTRUCTION OF RELIGIOUS AUTHORITY AND THE - WEAKENING OF POLITICAL POWER. - - -One of the first acts of the French Revolution was to attack the -Church; and amongst all the passions born of the Revolution the first -to be excited and the last to be allayed were the passions hostile -to religion. Even when the enthusiasm for liberty had vanished, and -tranquillity had been purchased at the price of servitude, the nation -still revolted against religious authority. Napoleon, who had succeeded -in subduing the liberal spirit of the French Revolution, made vain -efforts to restrain its antichristian spirit; and even in our own time -we have seen men who thought to atone for their servility towards the -meanest agents of political power by insolence towards God, and who -whilst they abandoned all that was most free, most noble, and most -lofty in the doctrines of the Revolution, flattered themselves that -they still remained true to its spirit by remaining irreligious. - -Nevertheless it is easy now to convince ourselves that the war waged -against religions was but one incident of this great Revolution, a -feature striking indeed but transient in its aspect, a passing result -of the ideas, the passions, and special events which preceded and -prepared it, and not an integral part of its genius. - -The philosophy of the eighteenth century has rightly been looked upon -as one of the chief causes of the Revolution, and it is quite true that -this philosophy was profoundly irreligious. But we must be careful to -observe that it contains two distinct and separable parts. - -One of these relates to all the new or newly revived opinions -concerning the condition of society, and the principles of civil -and political laws, such, for instance, as the natural equality of -mankind, and the abolition of all privileges of caste, of class, of -profession, which is the consequence of that equality; the sovereignty -of the people, the omnipotence of social power, the uniformity of laws. -All these doctrines were not only causes of the French Revolution, -they were its very substance: of all its effects they are the most -fundamental, the most lasting, and the most true, as far as time is -concerned. - -In the other part of their doctrines the philosophers of the eighteenth -century attacked the Church with the utmost fury; they fell foul of -her clergy, her hierarchy, her institutions, her dogmas; and, in order -more surely to overthrow them, they endeavoured to tear up the very -foundations of Christianity. But as this part of the philosophy of the -eighteenth century arose out of the very abuses which the Revolution -destroyed, it necessarily disappeared together with them, and was as -it were buried beneath its own triumph. I will add but one word to -make myself more fully understood, as I shall return hereafter to this -important subject: it was in the character of a political institution, -far more than in that of a religious doctrine, that Christianity had -inspired such fierce hatreds; it was not so much because the priests -assumed authority over the concerns of the next world, as because they -were landowners, landlords, tithe-owners, and administrators in this -world; not because the Church was unable to find a place in the new -society which was about to be constituted, but because she filled the -strongest and most privileged place in the old state of society which -was doomed to destruction. - -Observe how the progress of time has made and still makes this -truth more and more palpable day by day. In the same measure that -the political effects of the Revolution have become more firmly -established, its irreligious results have been annihilated; in the same -measure that all the old political institutions which the Revolution -attacked have been entirely destroyed--that the powers, the influences, -and the classes which were the objects of its especial hostility have -been irrevocably crushed, until even the hatred they inspired has begun -to lose its intensity--in the same measure, in short, as the clergy has -separated itself more and more from all that formerly fell with it, we -have seen the power of the Church gradually regain and re-establish its -ascendency over the minds of men. - -Neither must it be supposed that this phenomenon is peculiar to France; -there is hardly any Christian church in Europe that has not recovered -vitality since the French Revolution. - -It is a great mistake to suppose that the democratic state of society -is necessarily hostile to religion: nothing in Christianity, or even -in Catholicism, is absolutely opposed to the spirit of this form of -society, and many things in democracy are extremely favourable to it. -Moreover, the experience of all ages has shown that the most living -root of religious belief has ever been planted in the heart of the -people. All the religions which have perished lingered longest in that -abode, and it would be strange indeed if institutions which tend to -give power to the ideas and passions of the people were, as a permanent -and inevitable result, to lead the minds of men towards impiety. - -What has just been said of religious, may be predicated even more -strongly of social, authority. - -When the Revolution overthrew at once all the institutions and all -the customs which up to that time had maintained certain gradations -in society, and kept men within certain bounds, it seemed as if the -result would be the total destruction not only of one particular -order of society, but of all order: not only of this or that form of -government, but of all social authority; and its nature was judged to -be essentially anarchical. Nevertheless, I maintain that this too was -true only in appearance. - -Within a year from the beginning of the revolution, Mirabeau wrote -secretly to the King: ‘Compare the new state of things with the old -rule; there is the ground for comfort and hope. One part of the acts -of the National Assembly, and that the more considerable part, is -evidently favourable to monarchical government. Is it nothing to be -without parliaments? without the _pays d’état_? without a body of -clergy? without a privileged class? without a nobility? The idea -of forming a single class of all the citizens would have pleased -Richelieu; this equality of the surface facilitates the exercise of -power. Several successive reigns of an absolute monarchy would not have -done as much for the royal authority as this one year of revolution.’ -Such was the view of the Revolution taken by a man capable of guiding -it. - -As the object of the French Revolution was not only to change an -ancient form of government, but also to abolish an ancient state of -society, it had to attack at once every established authority, to -destroy every recognised influence, to efface all traditions, to create -new manners and customs, and, as it were, to purge the human mind of -all the ideas upon which respect and obedience had hitherto been based. -Thence arose its singularly anarchical character. - -But, clear away the ruins, and you behold an immense central power, -which has attracted and absorbed into unity all the fractions of -authority and influence which had formerly been dispersed amongst a -host of secondary powers, orders, classes, professions, families and -individuals, and which were disseminated throughout the whole fabric -of society. The world had not seen such a power since the fall of the -Roman Empire. This power was created by the Revolution, or rather it -arose spontaneously out of the ruins which the Revolution had left. -The governments which it founded are more perishable, it is true, but -a hundred times more powerful than any of those which it overthrew; we -shall see hereafter that their fragility and their power were owing to -the same causes. - -It was this simple, regular, and imposing form of power which Mirabeau -perceived through the dust and rubbish of ancient, half-demolished -institutions. This object, in spite of its greatness, was still -invisible to the eyes of the many, but time has gradually unveiled -it to all eyes. At the present moment it especially attracts the -attention of rulers: it is looked upon with admiration and envy not -only by those whom the Revolution has created, but by those who are -the most alien and the most hostile to it; all endeavour, within their -own dominions, to destroy immunities and to abolish privileges. They -confound ranks, they equalise classes, they supersede the aristocracy -by public functionaries, local franchises by uniform enactments, and -the diversities of authority by the unity of a Central Government. -They labour at this revolutionary task with unwearied industry, and -when they meet with occasional obstacles, they do not scruple to copy -the measures as well as the maxims of the Revolution. They have even -stirred up the poor against the rich, the middle classes against -the nobility, the peasants against their feudal lords. The French -Revolution has been at once their curse and their instructor. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - SHOWING THAT THE FRENCH REVOLUTION WAS A POLITICAL REVOLUTION WHICH - FOLLOWED THE COURSE OF RELIGIOUS REVOLUTIONS, AND FOR WHAT REASONS. - - -All mere civil and political revolutions have had some country for -their birth-place, and have remained circumscribed within its limits. -The French Revolution, however, had no territorial boundary--far from -it; one of its effects has been to efface as it were all ancient -frontiers from the map of Europe. It united or it divided mankind -in spite of laws, traditions, characters, and languages, turning -fellow-countrymen into enemies, and foreigners into brothers; or -rather, it formed an intellectual country common to men of every -nation, but independent of all separate nationalities. - -We should search all the annals of history in vain for a political -revolution of the same character; that character is only to be found in -certain religious revolutions. And accordingly it is to them that the -French Revolution must be compared, if any light is to be thrown upon -it by analogy. - -Schiller remarks, with truth, in his ‘History of the Thirty Years’ -War,’ that the great Reformation of the sixteenth century had the -effect of bringing together nations which scarcely knew each other, and -of closely uniting them by new sympathies. Thus it was that Frenchmen -warred against Frenchmen, while Englishmen came to their assistance; -men born on the most distant shores of the Baltic penetrated into the -very heart of Germany in order to defend Germans of whose existence -they had never heard until then. International wars assumed something -of the character of civil wars, whilst in every civil war foreigners -were engaged. The former interests of every nation were forgotten -in behalf of new interests; territorial questions were succeeded -by questions of principle. The rules of diplomacy were involved in -inextricable confusion, greatly to the horror and amazement of the -politicians of the time. The very same thing happened in Europe after -1789. - -The French Revolution was then a political revolution, which in its -operation and its aspect resembled a religious one. It had every -peculiar and characteristic feature of a religious movement; it -not only spread to foreign countries, but it was carried thither -by preaching and by propaganda. It is impossible to conceive a -stranger spectacle than that of a political revolution which inspires -proselytism, which its adherents preach to foreigners with as much -ardour and passion as they have shown in enacting it at home. Of -all the new and strange things displayed to the world by the French -Revolution, this assuredly is the newest. On penetrating deeper into -this matter, we shall most likely discover that this similarity of -effects must be produced by a latent similarity of causes. - -The general character of most religions is, that they deal with man -by himself, without taking into consideration whatever the laws, the -traditions, and the customs of each country may have added to his -original nature. Their principal aim is to regulate the relations of -man towards God, and the rights and duties of men towards each other, -independently of the various forms of society. The rules of conduct -which they inculcate apply less to the man of any particular country -or period than to man as a son, a father, a servant, a master, or a -neighbour. Being thus based on human nature itself, they are applicable -to all men, and at all times, and in all places. It is owing to this -cause that religious revolutions have so often spread over such vast -spheres of action, and have seldom been confined, like political -revolutions, to the territory of a single nation, or even of a single -race. If we investigate this subject still more closely, we shall find -that the more any religion has possessed the abstract and general -character to which I refer, the wider has it spread, in spite of all -differences of laws, of climate, and of races. - -The pagan religions of antiquity, which were all more or less bound up -with the political constitution or the social condition of each nation, -and which displayed even in their dogmas a certain national, and even -municipal, character, seldom spread beyond their own territorial -limits. They sometimes engendered intolerance and persecution, but -proselytism was to them unknown. Accordingly there were no great -religious revolutions in Western Europe previous to the introduction -of Christianity, which easily broke through barriers that had been -insurmountable to the pagan religions, and rapidly conquered a large -portion of the human race. It is no disrespect to this holy religion to -say, that it partly owed its triumph to the fact that it was more free -than any other faith from everything peculiar to any one nation, form -of government, social condition, period, or race. - -The French Revolution proceeded, as far as this world is concerned, -in precisely the same manner that religious revolutions proceed with -regard to the next; it looked upon the citizen in the abstract, -irrespective of any particular society, just as most religions look -upon man in general independently of time or country. It did not -endeavour merely to define what were the especial rights of a French -citizen, but what were the universal duties and rights of all men in -political matters. It was by thus recurring to that which was least -peculiar and, we might almost say, most _natural_ in the principles -of society and of government that the French Revolution was rendered -intelligible to all men, and could be imitated in a hundred different -places. - -As it affected to tend more towards the regeneration of mankind than -even towards the reform of France, it roused passions such as the most -violent political revolutions had never before excited. It inspired a -spirit of proselytism and created the propaganda. This gave to it that -aspect of a religious revolution which so terrified its contemporaries, -or rather, we should say, it became a kind of new religion in itself--a -religion, imperfect it is true, without a God, without a worship, -without a future life, but which nevertheless, like Islam, poured forth -its soldiers, its apostles, and its martyrs over the face of the earth. - -It must not, however, be imagined that the mode of operation pursued -by the French Revolution was altogether without precedent, or that all -the ideas which it developed were entirely new. In every age, even in -the depths of the Middle Ages, there had been agitators who invoked the -universal laws of human society in order to subvert particular customs, -and who have attempted to oppose the constitutions of their own -countries with weapons borrowed from the natural rights of mankind. But -all these attempts had failed; the firebrand which ignited Europe in -the eighteenth century had been easily extinguished in the fifteenth. -Revolutions are not to be produced by arguments of this nature until -certain changes have already been effected in the condition, the -habits, and the manners of a nation, by which the minds of men are -prepared to undergo a change. - -There are periods in which men differ so completely from each other, -that the notion of a single law applicable to all is entirely -incomprehensible to them. There are others in which it is sufficient to -show to them from afar off the indistinct image of such a law in order -to make them recognise it at once, and hasten to adopt it. - -The most extraordinary phenomenon is not so much that the French -Revolution should have pursued the course it did, and have developed -the ideas to which it gave rise, but that so many nations should have -reached a point at which such a course could be effectually employed -and such maxims be readily admitted. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - SHOWING THAT NEARLY THE WHOLE OF EUROPE HAD HAD PRECISELY THE SAME - INSTITUTIONS, AND THAT THESE INSTITUTIONS WERE EVERYWHERE FALLING TO - PIECES. - - -The tribes which overthrew the Roman Empire, and which in the end -formed all the modern nations of Europe, differed among each other in -race, in country, and in language; they only resembled each other in -barbarism. Once established in the dominions of the empire they engaged -in a long and fierce struggle, and when at length they had gained a -firm footing they found themselves divided by the very ruins they had -made. Civilisation was almost extinct, public order at an end, the -relations between man and man had become difficult and dangerous, and -the great body of European society was broken up into thousands of -small distinct and hostile societies, each of which lived apart from -the rest. Nevertheless certain uniform laws arose all at once out of -the midst of this incoherent mass. - -These institutions were not copied from the Roman legislation;[4] -indeed they were so much opposed to it that recourse was had to the -Roman law to alter and abolish them. They have certain original -characteristics which distinguish them from all other laws invented by -mankind. They corresponded to each other in all their parts, and, taken -together, they formed a body of law so compact that the articles of -our modern codes are not more perfectly coherent; they were skilfully -framed laws intended for a half-savage state of society. - -It is not my purpose to inquire how such a system of legislation could -have arisen, spread, and become general throughout Europe. But it -is certain that in the Middle Ages it existed more or less in every -European nation, and that in many it prevailed to the exclusion of -every other. - -I have had occasion to study the political institutions of the Middle -Ages in France, in England, and in Germany, and the further I proceeded -in my labours the more was I astonished at the prodigious similarity -which existed amongst all these various sets of laws; and the more did -I wonder how nations so different, and having so little intercourse, -could have contrived laws so much alike. Not but they continually and -almost immeasurably differ in their details and in different countries, -but the basis is invariably the same. If I discovered a political -institution, a law, a fixed authority, in the ancient Germanic -legislation, I was sure, on searching further, to find something -exactly analogous to it in France and in England. Each of these three -nations helped me more fully to understand the others. - -In all three the government was carried on according to the same -maxims, political assemblies were formed out of the same elements, and -invested with the same powers. Society was divided in the same manner, -and the same gradation of classes subsisted in each; in all three the -position of the nobles, their privileges, their characteristics, and -their disposition were identical; as men they were not distinguishable, -but rather, properly speaking, the same men in every place. - -The municipal constitutions were alike; the rural districts were -governed in the same manner. The condition of the peasantry differed -but little; the land was owned, occupied, and tilled after the same -fashion, and the cultivators were subjected to the same burthens. -From the confines of Poland to the Irish Channel, the Lord’s estate, -the manorial courts, the fiefs, the quit-rents, feudal service, -feudal rights, and the corporations or trading guilds, were all -alike. Sometimes the very names were the same; and what is still -more remarkable, the same spirit breathes in all these analogous -institutions. I think I may venture to affirm, that in the fourteenth -century the social, political, administrative, judicial, economical, -and literary institutions of Europe were more nearly akin to each other -than they are at the present time, when civilisation appears to have -opened all the channels of communication, and to have levelled every -obstacle. - -It is no part of my scheme to relate how this ancient constitution of -Europe gradually became wasted and decayed; it is sufficient to remark -that in the eighteenth century it was everywhere falling into ruin.[5] -On the whole, its decline was less marked in the east than in the west -of the continent; but on all sides old age and decrepitude were visible. - -The progress of this gradual decay of the institutions of the Middle -Ages may be followed in the archives of the different nations. It -is well known that each manor kept rolls called _terriers_, in -which from century to century were recorded the limits of fiefs -and the quit-rents, the dues, the services to be rendered, and the -local customs. I have seen rolls of the thirteenth and fourteenth -centuries which are masterpieces of method, perspicuity, concision, -and acuteness. The further we advance towards modern times the more -obscure, ill-digested, defective, and confused do they become, in spite -of the general progress of enlightenment. It seems as if political -society became barbarous, while civil society advances towards -civilisation. - -Even in Germany, where the ancient constitution of Europe had preserved -many more of its primitive features than in France, some of the -institutions which it had created were already completely destroyed. -But we shall not be so well able to appreciate the ravages of time when -we take into account what was gone, as when we examine the condition of -what was left. - -The municipal institutions which in the thirteenth and fourteenth -centuries had raised the chief towns of Germany into rich and -enlightened small republics, still existed in the eighteenth; but they -were a mere semblance of the past. Their ancient traditions seemed to -continue in force; the magistrates appointed by them bore the same -titles and seemed to perform the same functions; but the activity, the -energy, the municipal patriotism, the manly and prolific virtues which -they formerly inspired, had disappeared. These ancient institutions -appeared to have collapsed without losing the form that distinguished -them.[6] - -All the powers of the Middle Ages which where still in existence -seemed to be affected by the same disease; all showed symptoms of -the same languor and decay. Nay more, whatever was mixed up with -the constitution of that time, and had retained a strong impression -of it, even without absolutely belonging to those institutions, at -once lost its vitality. Thus it was that the aristocracy was seized -with senile debility; even political freedom, which had filled the -preceding centuries with its achievements, seemed stricken with -impotency wherever it preserved the peculiar characteristics impressed -upon it by the Middle Ages. Wherever the Provincial Assemblies had -maintained their ancient constitution unchanged, they checked instead -of furthering the progress of civilisation; they seemed insensible and -impervious to the new spirit of the times. Accordingly the hearts of -the people turned from them towards their sovereigns. The antiquity -of these institutions had not made them venerable: on the contrary, -the older they grew the more they fell into discredit; and, strangely -enough, they inspired more and more hatred in proportion as their -decay rendered them less capable of mischief. ‘The actual state of -things,’ said a German writer, who was a friend and contemporary of -the period anterior to the French Revolution, ‘seems to have become -generally offensive to all, and sometimes contemptible. It is strange -to see with what disfavour men now look upon all that is old. New -impressions creep into the bosom of our families and disturb their -peace. Our very housewives will no longer endure their ancient -furniture.’ Nevertheless, at this time Germany, as well as France, -enjoyed a high state of social activity and constantly increasing -prosperity. But it must be borne in mind that all the elements of life, -activity and production, were new, and not only new, but antagonistic -to the past. - -Royalty no longer had anything in common with the royalty of the Middle -Ages, it enjoyed other prerogatives, occupied a different place, was -imbued with a different spirit, and inspired different sentiments; the -administration of the State spread in all directions upon the ruins of -local authorities; the organised array of public officers superseded -more and more the government of the nobles. All these new powers -employed methods and followed maxims which the men of the Middle Ages -had either not known or had condemned; and, indeed, they belong to a -state of society of which those men could have formed no idea. - -In England, where, at the first glance, the ancient constitution of -Europe might still seem in full vigour, the case is the same. Setting -aside the ancient names and the old forms, in England the feudal system -was substantially abolished in the seventeenth century; all classes of -society began to intermingle, the pretensions of birth were effaced, -the aristocracy was thrown open, wealth was becoming power, equality -was established before the law, public employments were open to all, -the press became free, the debates of Parliament public; every one of -them new principles, unknown to the society of the Middle Ages. It is -precisely these new elements, gradually and skilfully incorporated -with the ancient constitution of England, which have revived without -endangering it, and filled it with new life and vigour without -destroying the ancient forms. In the seventeenth century England was -already quite a modern nation, which had still preserved, and, as it -were, embalmed some of the relics of the Middle Ages. - -This rapid view of the state of things beyond the boundaries of France -was essential to the comprehension of what is about to follow; for -no one who has seen and studied France only, can ever--I venture to -affirm--understand anything of the French Revolution. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[4] See Note I., on the Power of the Roman Law in Germany. - -[5] See Note II., on the passage from Feudal to Democratic Monarchy. - -[6] See Note III., on the Decay of the Free Towns of Germany. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - WHAT WAS THE PECULIAR SCOPE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION. - - -The preceding pages have had no other purpose than to throw some light -on the subject in hand, and to facilitate the solution of the questions -which I laid down in the beginning, namely, what was the real object -of the Revolution? What was its peculiar character? For what precise -reason it was made, and what did it effect? - -The Revolution was not made, as some have supposed, in order to destroy -the authority of religious belief. In spite of appearances, it was -essentially a social and political Revolution; and within the circle -of social and political institutions it did not tend to perpetuate -and give stability to disorder, or (as one of its chief adversaries -had said) to methodise anarchy; but rather to increase the power -and the rights of public authority. It was not destined (as others -have believed) to change the whole character which civilisation had -previously assumed, to check its progress, or even essentially to -alter any of the fundamental laws upon which human society in Western -Europe is based. If we divest it of all the accidental circumstances -which altered its aspect in different countries and at various times, -and consider only the Revolution itself, we shall clearly perceive -that its only effect has been to abolish those political institutions -which during several centuries had been in force among the greater part -of the European nations, and which are usually designated as feudal -institutions, in order to substitute a more uniform and simple state of -society and politics, based upon an equality of social condition. - -This was quite sufficient to constitute an immense revolution, for -not only were these ancient institutions mixed up and interwoven with -almost all the religious and political laws of Europe, but they had -also given rise to a crowd of ideas, sentiments, habits, and manners -which clung around them. Nothing less than a frightful convulsion could -suddenly destroy and expel from the social body a part to which all its -organs adhered. This made the Revolution appear even greater than it -really was; it seemed to destroy everything, for what it did destroy -was bound up with, and formed, as it were, one flesh with everything in -the social body. - -However radical the Revolution may have been, its innovations were, -in fact, much less than has been commonly supposed, as I shall show -hereafter. What may truly be said is, that it entirely destroyed, or is -still destroying (for it is not at an end), every part of the ancient -state of society that owed its origin to aristocratic and feudal -institutions--everything in any way connected with those institutions, -or in any degree, however slight, imbued with their spirit. It spared -no part of the old world, save such as had always been foreign to -those institutions, or could exist apart from them. Least of all was -the Revolution a fortuitous event. It took the world by surprise, it -is true, but it was not the less the completion of a long process, -the sudden and violent termination of a work which had successively -passed before the eyes of ten generations. If it had not taken place, -the old social structure would equally have fallen sooner in one place -and later in another--only it would have crumbled away by degrees -instead of falling with a crash. The Revolution effected on a sudden -and by a violent and convulsive effort, without any transition, without -forethought, without mercy, that which would have happened little by -little if left to itself. This was its work. - -It is surprising that this view of the subject, which now seems so -easy to discern, should have been so obscured and confused even to the -clearest perceptions. - -‘Instead of redressing their grievances,’ says Burke of the -representatives of the French nation, ‘and improving the fabric of -their state, to which they were called by their monarch and sent by -their country, they were made to take a very different course. They -first destroyed all the balances and counterpoises which serve to -fix the State and to give it a steady direction, and which furnish -sure correctives to any violent spirit which may prevail in any of -the orders. These balances existed in the oldest constitution and in -the constitution of all the countries in Europe. These they rashly -destroyed, and then they melted down the whole into one incongruous, -ill-connected mass.’[7] - -Burke did not perceive that he had before his eyes the very Revolution -which was to abolish the ancient common law of Europe; he could not -discern that this and no other was the very question at issue. - -But why, we may ask, did this Revolution, which was imminent throughout -Europe, break out in France rather than elsewhere, and why did it there -display certain characteristics which have appeared nowhere else, or -at least have appeared only in part? This second question is well -worthy of consideration, and the inquiry will form the subject of the -following book. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[7] Burke’s speech on the Army Estimates, 1790. - - - - -_BOOK II._ - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - WHY FEUDAL RIGHTS HAD BECOME MORE ODIOUS TO THE PEOPLE IN FRANCE THAN - IN ANY OTHER COUNTRY. - - -It must at first sight excite surprise that the Revolution, whose -peculiar object it was, as we have seen, everywhere to abolish -the remnant of the institutions of the Middle Ages, did not break -out in the countries in which these institutions, still in better -preservation, caused the people most to feel their constraint and their -rigour, but, on the contrary, in the countries where their effects were -least felt; so that the burden seemed most intolerable where it was in -reality least heavy. - -In no part of Germany, at the close of the eighteenth century, was -serfdom as yet completely abolished,[8] and in the greater part of -Germany the people were still literally _adscripti glebæ_, as in the -Middle Ages. Almost all the soldiers who fought in the armies of -Frederic II. and of Maria Theresa were in reality serfs.[9] In most -of the German States, as late as 1788, a peasant could not quit his -domain, and if he quitted it he might be pursued in all places wherever -he could be found, and brought back by force. In that domain he lived -subject to the seignorial jurisdiction which controlled his domestic -life and punished his intemperance or his sloth. He could neither -improve his condition, nor change his calling, nor marry without the -good pleasure of his master. To the service of that master a large -portion of his time was due. Labour rents (_corvées_) existed to their -full extent, and absorbed in some of these countries three days in the -week. The peasant rebuilt and repaired the mansion of the lord, carted -his produce to market, drove his carriage, and went on his errands. -Several years of the peasant’s early life were spent in the domestic -service of the manor-house. The serf might, however, become the owner -of land, but his property always remained very incomplete. He was -obliged to till his field in a certain manner under the eye of the -master, and he could neither dispose of it nor mortgage it at will. -In some cases he was compelled to sell its produce; in others he was -restrained from selling it; his obligation to cultivate the ground was -absolute. Even his inheritance did not descend without deduction to his -offspring; a fine was commonly subtracted by the lord. - -I am not seeking out these provisions in obsolete laws. They are to be -met with even in the Code framed by Frederic the Great and promulgated -by his successor at the very time of the outbreak of the French -Revolution.[10] - -Nothing of the kind had existed in France for a long period of time. -The peasant came, and went, and bought, and sold, and dealt, and -laboured, as he pleased. The last traces of serfdom could only be -detected in one or two of the eastern provinces annexed to France by -conquest; everywhere else the institution had disappeared; and indeed -its abolition had occurred so long before that even the date of it was -forgotten. The researches of archæologists of our own day have proved -that as early as the thirteenth century serfdom was no longer to be met -with in Normandy. - -But in the condition of the people in France another and a still -greater revolution had taken place. The French peasant had not only -ceased to be a serf; he had become an Owner of Land. This fact is still -at the present time so imperfectly established, and its consequences, -as will presently be seen, have been so remarkable, that I must be -permitted to pause for a moment to examine it. - -It has long been believed that the subdivision of landed property in -France dates from the Revolution of 1789, and was only the result of -that Revolution. The contrary is demonstrable by every species of -evidence. - -Twenty years at least before that Revolution, Agricultural Societies -were in existence which already deplored the excessive subdivision of -the soil. ‘The division of inheritances,’ said M. de Turgot, about the -same time, ‘is such that what sufficed for a single family is shared -among five or six children. These children and their families can -therefore no longer subsist exclusively by the land.’ Necker said a -few years later that there was in France an _immensity_ of small rural -properties. - -I have met the following expressions in a secret Report made -to one of the provincial Intendants a few years before the -Revolution:--‘Inheritances are divided in an equal and alarming -manner, and as every one wishes to have something of everything, and -everywhere, the plots of land are infinitely divided and perpetually -subdivided.’ Might not this sentence have been written in our days? - -I have myself taken the infinite pains to reconstruct, as it were, -the survey of landed property as it existed in France before the -Revolution, and I have in some cases effected my object. In pursuance -of the law of 1790, which established the land-tax, each parish had -to frame a return of the landed properties then existing within -its boundaries. These returns have for the most part disappeared; -nevertheless I have found them in a few villages, and by comparing -them with the rolls of the present holders, I have found that, in -these villages, the number of landed proprietors at that time amounted -to one-half, frequently to two-thirds, of their present number: a -fact which is the more remarkable if it be remembered that the total -population of France has augmented by more than one-fourth since that -period. - -Already, as at the present time, the love of the peasant for property -in land was intense, and all the passions which the possession of the -soil has engendered in his nature were already inflamed. ‘Land is -always sold above its value,’ said an excellent contemporary observer; -‘which arises from the passion of all the inhabitants to become owners -of the soil. All the savings of the lower orders which elsewhere are -placed out at private interest, or in the public securities, are -intended in France for the purchase of land.’ - -Amongst the novelties which Arthur Young observed in France, when he -visited that country for the first time, none struck him more than the -great division of the soil among the peasantry. He averred that half -the soil of France belonged to them in fee. ‘I had no idea,’ he often -says, ‘of such a state of things;’ and it is true that such a state of -things existed at that time nowhere but in France, or in the immediate -neighbourhood of France. - -In England there had been peasant landowners, but the number of them -had already considerably decreased. In Germany there had been at all -times and in all parts of the country a certain number of peasant -freeholders, who held portions of the soil in fee. The peculiar and -often eccentric laws which regulated the property of these peasants are -to be met with in the oldest of the Germanic customs; but this species -of property was always of an exceptional character, and the number of -these small proprietors was very limited.[11] - -The districts of Germany in which, at the close of the eighteenth -century, the peasants were possessed of land and lived almost as -freely as in France, lay on the banks of the Rhine.[12] In those same -districts the revolutionary passions of France spread with the utmost -velocity, and have always been most intense. The tracts of Germany -which remained, on the contrary, for the longest time inaccessible to -these passions, are those where no such tenures of land had yet been -introduced. The observation deserves to be made. - -It is, then, a vulgar error to suppose that the subdivision of landed -property in France dates from the Revolution. This state of things is -far older. The Revolution, it is true, caused the lands of the Church -and a great portion of the lands of the nobility to be sold; but if any -one will take the trouble, as I have sometimes done, to refer to the -actual returns and entries of these sales, it will be seen that most -of these lands were purchased by persons who already held other lands; -so that though the property changed hands, the number of proprietors -increased far less than is supposed. There was already an _immensity_ -of these persons, to borrow the somewhat ambitious but, in this case, -not inaccurate expression of M. Necker. - -The effect of the Revolution was not to divide the soil, but to -liberate it for a moment. All these small landowners were, in reality, -ill at ease in the cultivation of their property, and had to bear many -charges or easements on the land which they could not shake off. - -These charges were no doubt onerous.[13] But the cause which made -them appear insupportable was precisely that which might have seemed -calculated to diminish the burden of them. The peasants of France -had been released, more than in any other part of Europe, from the -government of their lords, by a revolution not less momentous than that -which had made them owners of the soil. - -Although what is termed in France the Ancien Régime is still very near -to us, since we live in daily intercourse with men born under its -laws, that period seems already lost in the night of time. The radical -revolution which separates us from it has produced the effect of ages: -it has obliterated all that it has not destroyed. Few persons therefore -can now give an accurate answer to the simple question--How were the -rural districts of France administered before 1789? And indeed no -answer can be given to that question with precision and minuteness, -without having studied, not books, but the administrative records of -that period. - -It is often said that the French nobility, which had long ceased to -take part in the government of the State, preserved to the last the -administration of the rural districts--the Seigneurs governed the -peasantry. This again is very like a mistake. - -In the eighteenth century all the affairs of the parish were managed by -a certain number of parochial officers, who were no longer the agents -of the manor or domain, and whom the Lord no longer selected. Some of -these persons were nominated by the Intendant of the province, others -were elected by the peasants themselves. The duty of these authorities -was to assess the taxes, to repair the church, to build schools, -to convoke and preside over the vestry or parochial meeting. They -attended to the property of the parish and determined the application -of it--they sued and were sued in its name. Not only the lord of the -domain no longer conducted the administration of these small local -affairs, but he did not even superintend it. All the parish officers -were under the government or the control of the central power, as we -shall show in a subsequent chapter. Nay, more, the Seigneur had almost -ceased to act as the representative of the Crown in the parish, or as -the channel of communication between the King and his subjects. He -was no longer expected to apply in the parish the general laws of the -realm, to call out the militia, to collect the taxes, to promulgate the -mandates of the sovereign, or to distribute the bounty of the Crown. -All these duties and all these rights belonged to others. The Seigneur -was in fact no longer anything but an inhabitant of the parish, -separated by his own immunities and privileges from all the other -inhabitants. His rank was different, not his power. _The Seigneur is -only the principal inhabitant_ was the instruction constantly given by -the Provincial Intendants to their Sub-delegates. - -If we quit the parish, and examine the constitution of the larger -rural districts, we shall find the same state of things. Nowhere did -the nobles conduct public business either in their collective or their -individual capacity. This was peculiar to France. Everywhere else -the characteristic features of the old feudal society were partially -preserved: the possession of the soil and the government of those who -dwelt on the soil were still commingled. - -England was administered as well as governed by the chief owners of the -soil. Even in those parts of Germany, as in Prussia and in Austria, -in which the reigning princes had been most successful in shaking -off the control of the nobles in the general affairs of the state, -they had left to that class, to a great degree, the administration of -rural affairs, and though the landed proprietor was, in some places, -controlled by the Government, his authority had nowhere been superseded. - -To say the truth, the French nobility had long since lost all hold on -the administration of public affairs, except on one single-point, that -namely of justice. The principal nobles still retained the right of -having judges who decided certain suits in their name, and occasionally -established police regulations within the limits of their domain; but -the power of the Crown had gradually cut down, limited, and subdued -this seignorial jurisdiction to such a degree that the nobles who still -exercised it regarded it less as a source of authority than as a source -of income. - -Such had been the fate of all the peculiar rights of the French -nobility. The political element had disappeared; the pecuniary element -alone remained, and in some instances had been largely increased. - -I speak at this moment of that portion of the beneficial privileges of -the aristocracy, which were especially called by the name of feudal -rights, since they were the privileges which peculiarly touched the -people. - -It is not easy to ascertain in what these rights did precisely still -consist in 1789, for the number of them had been great, their diversity -amazing, and many of these rights had already vanished or undergone a -transformation; so that the meaning of the terms by which they were -designated was perplexing even to contemporaries, and is become obscure -to us. Nevertheless by consulting the works of the domanial jurists -of the eighteenth century, and from attentive researches into local -customs, it will be found that all the rights still in existence at -that time may be reduced to a small number of leading heads; all the -others still subsisted, it is true, but only in isolated cases. - -The traces of seignorial labour-rents (_corvées_) may almost everywhere -be detected, but they were already half extinguished. Most of the tolls -on roads had been reduced or abolished; yet there were few provinces -in which some such tolls were not still to be met with. Everywhere too -Seigneurs levied dues on fairs and markets. Throughout France they -had the exclusive right of sporting. Generally they alone could keep -dovecotes and pigeons; almost everywhere the peasant was compelled -to grind at the seignorial mill, and to crush his grapes in the -seignorial wine-press. A very universal and onerous seignorial right -was that of the fine called _lods et ventes_, paid to the lord every -time lands were bought or sold within the boundaries of his manor. All -over the country the land was burdened with quit-rents, rent-charges, -or dues in money or in kind, due to the lord from the copyholder, -and not redeemable by the latter. Under all these differences one -common feature may be traced. All these rights were more or less -connected with the soil or with its produce; they all bore upon him who -cultivates it.[14] - -The spiritual lords of the soil enjoyed the same advantages; for -the Church, which had a different origin, a different purpose, and -a different nature from the feudal system, had nevertheless at last -intimately mingled itself with that system; and though never completely -incorporated with that foreign substance, it had struck so deeply into -it as to be incrusted there.[15] - -Bishops, canons, and incumbents held fiefs or charges on the land in -virtue of their ecclesiastical functions. A convent had generally the -lordship of the village in which it stood. The Church held serfs in -the only part of France in which they still existed: it levied its -labour-rents, its due on fairs and markets; it had the common oven, the -common mill, the common wine-press, and the common bull. Moreover, the -clergy still enjoyed in France, as in all the rest of Christendom, the -right of tithe.[16] - -But what I am here concerned to remark is, that throughout Europe at -that time the same feudal rights--_identically the same_--existed, and -that in most of the continental states they were far more onerous than -in France. I may quote the single instance of the seignorial claim for -labour: in France this right was unfrequent and mild; in Germany it was -still universal and harsh. - -Nay more, many of the rights of feudal origin which were held in the -utmost abhorrence by the last generation of Frenchmen, and which they -considered as contrary not only to justice but to civilisation--such -as tithes, inalienable rent-charges or perpetual dues, fines or -heriots, and what were termed, in the somewhat pompous language of -the eighteenth century, _the servitude of the soil_, might all be met -with at that time, to a certain extent, in England, and many of them -exist in England to this day. Yet they do not prevent the husbandry -of England from being the most perfect and the most productive in the -world, and the English people is scarcely conscious of their existence. - -How comes it then that these same feudal rights excited in the hearts -of the people of France so intense a hatred that this passion has -survived its object, and seems therefore to be unextinguishable? The -cause of this phenomenon is, that, on the one hand, the French peasant -had become an owner of the soil; and that, on the other, he had -entirely escaped from the government of the great landlords. Many other -causes might doubtless be indicated, but I believe these two to be the -most important. - -If the peasant had not been an owner of the soil, he would have been -insensible to many of the burdens which the feudal system had cast upon -landed property. What matters tithe to a tenant farmer? He deducts it -from his rent. What matters a rent-charge to a man who is not the owner -of the ground? What matter even the impediments to free cultivation to -a man who cultivates for another? - -On the other hand, if the French peasant had still lived under the -administration of his landlord, these feudal rights would have appeared -far less insupportable, because he would have regarded them as a -natural consequence of the constitution of the country. - -When an aristocracy possesses not only privileges but powers, when -it governs and administers the country, its private rights may be at -once more extensive and less perceptible. In the feudal times, the -nobility were regarded pretty much as the government is regarded in -our own; the burdens they imposed were endured in consideration of the -security they afforded. The nobles had many irksome privileges; they -possessed many onerous rights; but they maintained public order, they -administered justice, they caused the law to be executed, they came to -the relief of the weak, they conducted the business of the community. -In proportion as the nobility ceased to do these things, the burden of -their privileges appeared more oppressive, and their existence became -an anomaly. - -Picture to yourself a French peasant of the eighteenth century, or, -I might rather say, the peasant now before your eyes, for the man is -the same; his condition is altered, but not his character. Take him -as he is described in the documents I have quoted--so passionately -enamoured of the soil, that he will spend all his savings to purchase -it, and to purchase it at any price. To complete this purchase he must -first pay a tax, not to the government, but to other landowners of the -neighbourhood, as unconnected as himself with the administration of -public affairs, and hardly more influential than he is. He possesses it -at last; his heart is buried in it with the seed he sows. This little -nook of ground, which is his own in this vast universe, fills him with -pride and independence. But again these neighbours call him from his -furrow, and compel him to come to work for them without wages. He tries -to defend his young crops from their game; again they prevent him. As -he crosses the river they wait for his passage to levy a toll. He finds -them at the market, where they sell him the right of selling his own -produce; and when, on his return home, he wants to use the remainder -of his wheat for his own sustenance--of that wheat which was planted -by his hands, and has grown under his eyes--he cannot touch it till he -has ground it at the mill and baked it at the bakehouse of these same -men. A portion of the income of his little property is paid away in -quit-rents to them also, and these dues can neither be extinguished nor -redeemed. - -Whatever he does, these troublesome neighbours are everywhere on his -path, to disturb his happiness, to interfere with his labour, to -consume his profits; and when these are dismissed, others in the black -garb of the Church present themselves to carry off the clearest profit -of his harvest. Picture to yourself the condition, the wants, the -character, the passions of this man, and compute, if you are able, the -stores of hatred and of envy which are accumulated in his heart.[17] - -Feudalism still remained the greatest of all the civil institutions of -France, though it had ceased to be a political institution. Reduced -to these proportions, the hatred it excited was greater than ever; -and it may be said with truth that the destruction of a part of the -institutions of the Middle Ages rendered a hundred times more odious -that portion which still survived.[18] - -FOOTNOTES: - -[8] See Note IV., Date of Abolition of Serfdom in Germany. - -[9] See Note V. - -[10] See Note VI. - -[11] See Note VII., Peasant Lands in Germany. - -[12] See Note VIII., Nobility and Lands on the Rhine. - -[13] See Note IX., Effect of Usury Laws on Land. - -[14] See Note X., Abuse of Feudal Rights. - -[15] See Note XI., Ecclesiastical Feudal Rights. - -[16] See Note XII., Rights of the Abbey of Cherbourg. - -[17] See Note XIII., Irritation caused to the Peasantry by Feudal -Rights, and especially by the Feudal Rights of the Clergy. - -[18] See Note XIV., Effect of Feudalism on state of Real Property. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - SHOWING THAT ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRALISATION IS AN INSTITUTION ANTERIOR - IN FRANCE TO THE REVOLUTION OF 1789, AND NOT THE PRODUCT OF THE - REVOLUTION OR OF THE EMPIRE, AS IS COMMONLY SAID. - - -At a period when political assemblies still existed in France, I once -heard an orator, in speaking of administrative centralisation, call -it, ‘that admirable achievement of the Revolution which Europe envies -us.’ I will concede the fact that centralisation is an admirable -achievement; I will admit that Europe envies us its possession, but -I maintain that it is not an achievement of the Revolution. On the -contrary, it is a product of the former institutions of France, and, I -may add, the only portion of the political constitution of the monarchy -which survived the Revolution, inasmuch as it was the only one that -could be made to adapt itself to the new social condition brought about -by that Revolution. The reader who has the patience to read the present -chapter with attention will find that I have proved to demonstration -this proposition. - -I must first beg to be allowed to put out of the question what were -called _les pays d’état_, that is to say, the provinces that managed -their own affairs, or rather had the appearance, in part, of managing -them. These provinces, placed at the extremities of the kingdom, did -not contain more than a quarter of the total population of France; and -there were only two among them in which provincial liberty possessed -any real vitality. I shall revert to them hereafter, and show to what -an extent the central power had subjected these very states to the -common mould.[19] But for the present I desire to give my principal -attention to what was called in the administrative language of the day, -_les pays d’élection_, although, in truth, there were fewer elections -in them than anywhere else. These districts encompassed Paris on every -side, they were contiguous, and formed the heart and the better part of -the territory of France. - -To any one who may cast a glance over the ancient administration of -the kingdom, the first impression conveyed is that of a diversity -of regulations and authorities, and the entangled complication of -the different powers. France was covered with administrative bodies -and distinct officers, who had no connection with one another, but -who took part in the government in virtue of a right which they had -purchased, and which could not be taken from them; but their duties -were frequently so intermingled and so nearly contiguous as to press -and clash together within the range of the same transactions. - -The courts of justice took an indirect part in the legislative -power, and possessed the right of framing administrative regulations -which became obligatory within the limits of their own jurisdiction. -Sometimes they maintained an opposition to the administration, properly -so called, loudly blamed its measures and proscribed its agents. -Police ordinances were promulgated by simple justices in the towns and -boroughs where they resided. - -The towns had a great diversity of constitutions, and their magistrates -bore different designations--sometimes as mayors, sometimes as consuls, -or again as syndics, and derived their powers from different sources. -Some were chosen by the king, others by the lord of the soil or by the -prince holding the fief; some again were elected for a year by their -fellow-citizens, whilst others purchased the right of governing them -permanently. - -These different powers were the last remains of the ancient system; -but something comparatively new or greatly modified had by degrees -established itself among them, and this I have yet to describe. - -In the centre of the kingdom, and close to the throne, there had been -gradually formed an administrative body of extraordinary authority, in -the grasp of which every power was united after a new fashion: this -was the King’s Council. Its origin was ancient, but the greater part -of its functions were of recent date. It was at once a supreme court -of justice, inasmuch as it had the right to quash the judgments of all -the ordinary courts, and a superior administrative tribunal, inasmuch -as every special jurisdiction was dependent on it in the last resort. -It possessed, moreover, as a Council of State, subject to the pleasure -of the King, a legislative power, for it discussed and proposed the -greater part of the laws, and fixed and assessed the taxes. As the -superior administrative board, it had to frame the general regulations -which were to direct the agents of the Government. Within its walls all -important affairs were decided and all secondary powers controlled. -Everything finally came home to it; from that centre was derived the -movement which set everything in motion. Yet it possessed no inherent -jurisdiction of its own. The King alone decided, even when the Council -appeared to advise, and even when it seemed to administer justice, it -consisted of no more than simple ‘givers of advice’--an expression used -by the Parliament in one of its remonstrances. - -This Council was not composed of men of rank, but of personages of -middling or even low extraction, former Intendants or other men of that -class thoroughly versed in the management of business, all of whom were -liable to dismissal by the Crown. It generally proceeded in its course -quietly and discreetly, displaying less pretension than real power; -and thus it had but little lustre of its own, or, rather, it was lost -in the splendour of the throne to which it stood so near; at once so -powerful that everything came within its scope, and so obscure that it -has scarcely been remarked by history. - -As the whole administration of the country was directed by a single -body, so nearly the entire management of home affairs was entrusted to -the care of one single agent--the Comptroller-General. On opening an -almanack of France before the Revolution, it will be found that each -province had its special minister; but on studying the administration -itself in the legal records of the time, it will soon be seen that the -minister of the province had but few occasions of any importance for -exercising his authority. The common course of business was directed -by the Comptroller-General, who gradually took upon himself all the -affairs that had anything to do with money, that is to say, almost the -whole public administration; and who thus performed successively the -duties of minister of finance, minister of the interior, minister of -public works, and minister of trade. - -As, in truth, the central administration had but one agent in Paris, -so it had likewise but a single agent in each province. Nobles were -still to be found in the eighteenth century bearing the titles of -governors of provinces; they were the ancient and often the hereditary -representatives of feudal royalty. Honours were still bestowed upon -them, but they no longer had any power. The Intendant was in possession -of the whole reality of government. - -This Intendant was a man of humble extraction, always a stranger to -the province, and a young man who had his fortune to make. He never -exercised his functions by any right of election, birth, or purchase -of office; he was chosen by the government among the inferior members -of the Council of State, and was always subject to dismissal. He -represented the body from which he was thus severed, and, for that -reason, was called, in the administrative language of the time, -a Detached Commissioner. All the powers which the Council itself -possessed were accumulated in his hands, and he exercised them all in -the first instance. Like the Council, he was at once administrator and -judge. He corresponded with all the ministers, and in the province was -the sole agent of all the measures of the government. - -In each canton was placed below him an officer nominated by himself, -and removable at will, called the Sub-delegate. The Intendant was very -commonly a newly-created noble; the Sub-delegate was always a plebeian. -He nevertheless represented the entire Government in the small, -circumscribed space assigned to him as much as the Intendant did in the -whole; and he was amenable to the Intendant as the Intendant was to the -minister. - -The Marquis d’Argenson relates in his ‘Memoirs,’ that one day Law -said to him, ‘“I never could have believed what I saw, when I was -Comptroller of Finance. Do you know that this kingdom of France -is governed by thirty _Intendants_? You have neither parliament, -nor estates, nor governors. It is upon thirty Masters of Requests, -despatched into the provinces, that their evil or their good, their -fertility or their sterility, entirely depends.”’ - -These powerful officers of the Government were, however, completely -eclipsed by the remnants of the ancient aristocracy, and lost in the -brilliancy which that body still shed around it. So that, even in their -own time, they were scarcely seen, although their finger was already on -everything. In society the nobles had over such men the advantages of -rank, wealth, and the consideration always attached to what is ancient. -In the Government the nobility were immediately about the person -of the Prince, and formed his Court, commanded the fleets, led the -armies, and, in short, did all that most attracts the observation of -contemporaries, and too often absorbs the attention of posterity. A man -of high rank would have been insulted by the proposal to appoint him -an Intendant. The poorest man of family would generally have disdained -the offer. In his eyes the Intendants were the representatives of an -upstart power, new men appointed to govern the middle classes and the -peasantry, and, as for the rest, very sorry company. Yet, as Law said, -and as we shall see, these were the men who governed France. - -To commence with the right of taxation, which includes, as it were, all -other rights. It is well known a part of the taxes were farmed. In -these cases the King’s Council negotiated with the financial companies, -fixed the terms of the contract, and regulated the mode of collection. -All the other taxes, such as the _taille_, the capitation-tax, and -the _vingtièmes_ were fixed and levied by the agents of the central -administration or under their all-powerful control. - -The Council, every year, by a secret decision, fixed the amount of the -_taille_ and its numerous accessories, and likewise its distribution -among the provinces. The _taille_ had thus increased from year to year, -though public attention was never called to the fact, no noise being -made about it. - -As the _taille_ was an ancient tax, its assessment and collection had -been formerly confided to local agents, who were all, more or less, -independent of the Government by right of birth or election, or by -purchase of office; they were the lords of the soil, the parochial -collectors, the treasurers of France, or officers termed the _élus_. -These authorities still existed in the eighteenth century, but some had -altogether ceased to busy themselves about the _taille_, whilst others -only did so in a very secondary and entirely subordinate manner. Even -here the entire power was in the hands of the Intendant and his agents; -he alone, in truth, assessed the _taille_ in the different parishes, -directed and controlled the collectors, and granted delays of payments -or exemptions. - -As the other taxes, such as the capitation tax, were of recent date, -the Government was no longer embarrassed in respect to them by the -remnants of former powers, but dealt with them without any intervention -of the parties governed. The Comptroller-General, the Intendant, and -the Council fixed the amount of each quota. - -Let us leave the question of money for that of men. - -It is sometimes a matter of astonishment how the French can have so -patiently borne the yoke of the military conscription at the time of -the Revolution and ever since; but it must be borne in mind that they -had been already broken in to bear it for a long period of time. The -conscription had been preceded by the militia, which was a heavier -burden, although the amount of men required was less. From time to time -the young men in the country were made to draw lots, and from among -them were taken a certain number of soldiers, who were formed into -militia regiments, in which they served for six years. - -As the militia was a comparatively modern institution, none of -the ancient feudal powers meddled with it; the whole business was -intrusted to the agents of the Central Government alone. The Council -fixed the general amount of men and the share of each province. The -Intendant regulated the number of men to be raised in each parish; -his Sub-delegate superintended the drawing of the lots, decided all -cases of exemption, designated those militia-men who were allowed to -remain with their families and those who were to join the regiment, and -finally delivered over the latter to the military authorities. There -was no appeal except to the Intendant or the Council. - -It may be said with equal accuracy that, except in the _pays d’état_, -all the public works, even those that had a very special destination, -were decided upon and managed by the agents of the central power alone. - -There certainly existed local and independent authorities, who, like -the seigneur, the boards of finance, and the _grands voyers_ (surveyors -of public roads), had the power of taking a part in such matters of -public administration. But all these ancient authorities, as may be -seen by the slightest examination of the administrative documents of -the time, bestirred themselves but little, or bestirred themselves no -longer. All the great roads, and even the cross-roads leading from -one town to another, were made and kept up at the cost of the public -revenue. The Council decided the plan and contracted for its execution. -The Intendant directed the engineering works, and the Sub-delegate got -together the compulsory labourers who were to execute them. The care -of the by-roads was alone left to the old local authorities, and they -became impassable. - -As in our days, the body of the _Ponts et Chaussées_ was the great -agent of the Central Government in relation to public works, and, in -spite of the difference of the times, a very remarkable resemblance is -to be found in their constitution now and then. The administration of -the _Ponts et Chaussées_ had a council and a school, inspectors who -annually travelled over the whole of France, and engineers who resided -on the spot and who were appointed to direct the works under the orders -of the Intendant. A far greater number of the institutions of the old -monarchy than is commonly supposed have been handed down to the modern -state of French society, but in their transmission they have generally -lost their names, even though they still preserve the same forms. As a -rare exception, the _Ponts et Chaussées_ have preserved both one and -the other. - -The Central Government alone undertook, with the help of its agents, to -maintain public order in the provinces. The _maréchaussée_, or mounted -police, was dispersed in small detachments over the whole surface -of the kingdom, and was everywhere placed under the control of the -Intendants. It was by the help of these soldiers, and, if necessary, -of regular troops, that the Intendant warded off any sudden danger, -arrested vagabonds, repressed mendicity, and put down the riots, which -were continually arising from the price of corn. It never happened, as -had been formerly the case, that the subjects of the Crown were called -upon to aid the Government in this task, except indeed in the towns, -where there was generally a town-guard, the soldiers of which were -chosen and the officers appointed by the Intendant. - -The judicial bodies had preserved the right of making police -regulations, and frequently exercised it; but these regulations were -only applicable to a part of the territory, and, more generally, to one -spot only. The Council had the power of annulling them, and frequently -did annul them in cases of subordinate jurisdiction. But the Council -was perpetually making general regulations applicable to all parts of -the kingdom, either relative to subjects different from those which the -tribunals had already settled, or applicable to those which they had -settled in another manner. The number of these regulations, or _arrêts -du Conseil_, as they were then called, was immense; and they seem to -have constantly increased the nearer we approach the Revolution. There -is scarcely a single matter of social economy or political organisation -that was not reorganised by these _arrêts du Conseil_ during the forty -years preceding that event. - -Under the ancient feudal state of society, the lord of the soil, if -he possessed important rights, had, at the same time, very heavy -obligations. It was his duty to succour the indigent in the interior -of his domains. The last trace of this old European legislation is to -be found in the Prussian Code of 1795, which says, ‘The lord of the -soil must see that the indigent peasants receive an education. It is -his duty to provide means of subsistence to those of his vassals who -possess no land, as far as he is able. If any of them fall into want, -he must come to their assistance.’ - -But no law of the kind had existed in France for a long time. The -lord, when deprived of his former power, considered himself liberated -from his former obligations; and no local authority, no council, no -provincial or parochial association, had taken his place. No single -being was any longer compelled by law to take care of the poor in the -rural districts, and the Central Government had boldly undertaken to -provide for their wants by its own resources. - -Every year the Council assigned to each province certain funds derived -from the general produce of the taxes, which the Intendant distributed -for the relief of the poor in the different parishes. It was to him -that the indigent labourer had to apply, and, in times of scarcity, -it was he who caused corn or rice to be distributed among the people. -The Council annually issued ordinances for the establishment of -charitable workshops (_ateliers de charité_) where the poorer among -the peasantry were enabled to find work at low wages, and the Council -took upon itself to determine the places where these were necessary. It -may be easily supposed, that alms thus bestowed from a distance were -indiscriminate, capricious, and always very inadequate.[20] - -The Central Government, moreover, did not confine itself to relieving -the peasantry in time of distress; it also undertook to teach them the -art of enriching themselves, encouraged them in this task, and forced -them to it, if necessary.[21] For this purpose, from time to time, it -caused distributions of small pamphlets upon the science of agriculture -to be made by its Intendants and their Sub-delegates, founded schools -of agriculture, offered prizes, and kept up, at a great expense, -nursery-grounds, of which it distributed the produce. It would seem -to have been more wise to have lightened the weight and modified the -inequality of the burdens which then oppressed the agriculture of the -country, but such an idea never seems to have occurred. - -Sometimes the Council insisted upon compelling individuals to prosper, -whether they would or no. The ordinances constraining artisans to use -certain methods and manufacture certain articles are innumerable; and -as the Intendants had not time to superintend the application of all -these regulations, there were inspectors-general of manufactures, who -visited in the provinces to insist on their fulfilment. Some of the -_arrêts du Conseil_ even prohibited the cultivation of certain crops -which the Council did not consider proper for the purpose; whilst -others ordered the destruction of such vines as had been, according -to its opinion, planted in an unfavourable soil. So completely had -the Government already changed its duty as a sovereign into that of a -guardian. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[19] See the last chapter of this Book (xxi.) for a fuller account of -the local government of Languedoc. - -[20] See Note XV., Public Relief, and Note XVI. - -[21] See Note XVII., Powers of the Intendant for the Regulation of -Trade. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - SHOWING THAT WHAT IS NOW CALLED ADMINISTRATIVE TUTELAGE WAS AN - INSTITUTION IN FRANCE ANTERIOR TO THE REVOLUTION. - - -In France municipal freedom outlived the feudal system. Long after -the landlords were no longer the rulers of the country districts, -the towns still retained the right of self-government. Some of the -towns of France continued down to nearly the close of the seventeenth -century to form, as it were, small democratic commonwealths, in which -the magistrates were freely elected by the whole people and were -responsible to the people--in which municipal life was still public and -animated--in which the city was still proud of her rights and jealous -of her independence. - -These elections were generally abolished for the first time in 1692. -The municipal offices were then what was called put up to sale (_mises -en offices_ was the technical expression), that is to say, the King -sold in each town to some of the inhabitants the right of perpetually -governing all their townsmen. - -This measure cost the towns at once their freedom and their well-being; -for if the practice of the sale of commissions for a public employment -sometimes proved useful in its effects when applied to the courts -of justice--since the first condition of the good administration of -justice is the complete independence of the judge--this system never -failed to be extremely mischievous whenever it was applied to posts of -administrative duty, which demand, above all things, responsibility, -subordination, and zeal. The Government of the old French monarchy was -perfectly aware of the real effects of such a system. It took great -care not to adopt for itself the same mode of proceeding which it -applied to the towns, and scrupulously abstained from putting up to -sale the commissions of its own Intendants and Sub-delegates. - -And it well deserves the whole scorn of history that this great -change was accomplished without any political motive. Louis XI. had -curtailed the municipal liberties of the towns, because he was alarmed -by their democratic character;[22] Louis XIV. destroyed them under -no such fears. The proof is that he restored these rights to all the -towns which were rich enough to buy them back again. In reality, his -object was not to abolish them, but to traffic in them; and if they -were actually abolished, it was, without meaning it, by a mere fiscal -expedient. The same thing was carried on for more than eighty years. -Seven times within that period the Crown resold to the towns the right -of electing their magistrates, and as soon as they had once more tasted -this blessing, it was snatched away to be sold to them once more. The -motive of the measure was always the same, and frequently avowed. ‘Our -financial necessities,’ says the preamble to an edict of 1722, ‘compel -us to have recourse to the most effectual means of relieving them.’ -The mode was effectual, but it was ruinous to those who bore this -strange impost. ‘I am struck with the enormity of the sums which have -been paid at all times to purchase back the municipal offices,’ writes -an Intendant to the Comptroller-General in 1764. ‘The amount of these -sums spent in useful improvements would have turned to the advantage of -the town, which has, on the contrary, felt nothing but the weight of -authority and the privileges of these offices.’ I have not detected a -more shameful feature in the whole aspect of the government of France -before the Revolution. - -It seems difficult to say with precision at the present time how the -towns of France were governed in the eighteenth century; for, besides -that the origin of the municipal authorities fluctuated incessantly, -as has just been stated, each town still preserved some fragments of -its former constitution and its peculiar customs. There were not, -perhaps, two towns in France in which everything was exactly similar; -but this apparent diversity is fallacious, and conceals a general -resemblance.[23] - -In 1764 the Government proposed to make a general law on the -administration of the towns of France, and for this purpose it caused -reports to be sent in by the Intendants of the Crown on the existing -municipal government of the country. I have discovered a portion -of the results of this inquiry, and I have fully satisfied myself -by the perusal of it that the municipal affairs of all these towns -were conducted in much the same manner. The distinctions are merely -superficial and apparent--the groundwork is everywhere the same. - -In most instances the government of the towns was vested in two -assemblies. All the great towns were thus governed, and some of the -small ones. The first of these assemblies was composed of municipal -officers, more or less numerous according to the place. These formed -the executive body of the community, the corporation or _corps de la -ville_, as it was then termed. The members of this body exercised -a temporary power, and were elected when the King had restored the -elective power, or when the town had been able to buy up its offices. -They held their offices permanently upon a certain payment to the -Crown, when the Crown had appropriated the patronage and succeeded -in disposing of it by sale, which was not always the case; for this -sort of commodity declined in value precisely in proportion to the -increasing subordination of the municipal authority to the central -power. These municipal officers never received any stipend, but they -were remunerated by exemptions from taxation and by privileges. No -regular gradation of authority seems to have been established among -them--their administration was collective. The mayor was the president -of the corporation, not the governor of the city. - -The second assembly, which was termed the general assembly, or as we -should say in England the _livery_, elected the corporation, wherever -it was still subject to election, and always continued to take a part -in the principal concerns of the town. - -In the fifteenth century this general assembly frequently consisted of -the whole population. ‘This custom,’ said one of the authors of these -Reports, ‘was consistent with the popular spirit of our forefathers.’ -At that time the whole people elected their own municipal officers; -this body was sometimes consulted by the corporation, and to this body -the corporation was responsible. At the end of the seventeenth century -the same state of things might sometimes be met with. - -In the eighteenth century the people acting as a body had ceased -to meet in this general assembly; it had by that time become -representative. But, it must be carefully remarked, that this body was -no longer anywhere elected by the bulk of the community, or impressed -with its spirit. It was invariably composed of _notables_, some of whom -sat there in virtue of a personal right; others were deputed by guilds -or companies, from which each of them received imperative instructions. - -As this century rolled on, the number of these notables sitting in -virtue of their own right augmented in the popular assembly; the -delegates of the working guilds fell away or disappeared altogether. -They were superseded by the delegates of the great companies, or, -in other words, the assembly contained only burgesses and scarcely -any artisans. Then the citizens, who are not so easily imposed on -by the empty semblance of liberty as is sometimes supposed, ceased -everywhere to take an interest in the affairs of the town, and lived -like strangers within their own walls. In vain the civic magistrates -attempted from time to time to revive that civic patriotism which -had done so many wonders in the Middle Ages. The people remained -deaf. The greatest interests of the town no longer appeared to affect -the citizens. They were asked to give their suffrages when the vain -counterfeit of a free election had been retained; but they stood aloof. -Nothing is more frequent in history than such an occurrence. Almost -all the princes who have destroyed freedom have attempted at first to -preserve the forms of freedom, from Augustus to our own times; they -flattered themselves that they should thus combine the moral strength -which public assent always gives, with the conveniences which absolute -power can alone offer. But almost all of them have failed in this -endeavour, and have soon discovered that it is impossible to prolong -these false appearances where the reality has ceased to exist. - -In the eighteenth century the municipal government of the towns of -France had thus everywhere degenerated into a contracted oligarchy. -A few families managed all the public business for their own private -purposes, removed from the eye of the public, and with no public -responsibility. Such was the morbid condition of this administration -throughout the whole of France. All the Intendants pointed it out; but -the only remedy they suggested was the increased subjection of the -local authorities to the Central Government. - -In this respect, however, it was difficult for success to be more -complete. Besides the Royal edicts, which from time to time modified -the administration of all the towns in France, the local by-laws of -each town were frequently overruled by Orders in Council, which were -not registered--passed on the recommendation of the Intendants, without -any previous inquiry, and sometimes without the citizens of the towns -themselves knowing anything of the matter.[24] - -‘This measure,’ said the inhabitants of a town which had been affected -by a decree of this nature, ‘has astonished all the orders of the city, -who expected nothing of the kind.’ - -The towns of France at this period could neither establish an octroi on -articles of consumption, nor levy a rate, nor mortgage, nor sell, nor -sue, nor farm their property, nor administer that property, nor even -employ their own surplus revenues, without the intervention of an Order -in Council, made on the report of the Intendant. All their public works -were executed in conformity to plans and estimates approved by the -Council. These works were adjudged to contractors before the Intendant -or his Sub-delegates, and were generally intrusted to the engineers or -architects of the State. - -These facts will doubtless excite the surprise of those who suppose -that the whole present condition of France is a novelty. - -But the Central Government interfered more directly in the municipal -administration of the towns than even these rules would seem to -indicate; its power was far more extended than its right to exercise it. - -I meet with the following passage in a circular instruction, addressed -about the middle of the last century by a Comptroller-General to all -the Intendants of the Kingdom: ‘You will pay particular attention -to all that takes place in the municipal assemblies. You will take -care to have a most exact report of everything done there and of all -the resolutions taken, in order to transmit them to me forthwith, -accompanied with your own opinion on the subject.’ - -In fact it may be seen, from the correspondence of the Intendant with -his subordinate officers, that the Government had a finger in all -the concerns of every town, the least as well as the greatest. The -Government was always consulted--the Government had always a decided -opinion on every point. It even regulated the public festivities, -ordered public rejoicings, caused salutes to be fired, and houses to -be illuminated. On one occasion I observe that a member of the burgher -guard was fined twenty livres by the Intendant for having absented -himself from a _Te Deum_. - -The officers of these municipal corporations had therefore arrived at a -becoming sense of their own insignificance. ‘We most humbly supplicate -you, Monseigneur’ (such was the style in which they addressed the -King’s Intendant), ‘to grant us your good-will and protection. We will -endeavour not to show ourselves unworthy of them by the submission we -are ready to show to all the commands of your Greatness.’ ‘We have -never resisted your will, Monseigneur,’ was the language of another -body of these persons, who still assumed the pompous title of Peers of -the City. - -Such was the preparation of the middle classes for government, and of -the people for liberty. - -If at least this close dependence of the towns on the State had -preserved their finances! but such was not the case. It is sometimes -argued that without centralisation the towns would ruin themselves. I -know not how that may be, but I know that in the eighteenth century -centralisation did not prevent their ruin. The whole administrative -history of that time is replete with their embarrassments. - -If we turn from the towns to the villages, we meet with different -powers and different forms of government, but the same dependence.[25] - -I find many indications of the fact, that in the Middle Ages the -inhabitants of every village formed a community distinct from the Lord -of the soil. He, no doubt, employed the community, superintended it, -governed it; but the village held in common certain property, which was -absolutely its own; it elected its own chiefs, and administered its -affairs democratically. - -This ancient constitution of the parish may be traced in all the -nations in which the feudal system prevailed, and in all the countries -to which these nations have carried the remnants of their laws. These -vestiges occur at every turn in England, and the system was in full -vigour in Germany sixty years ago, as may be demonstrated by reading -the code of Frederic the Great. Even in France in the eighteenth -century, some traces of it were still in existence. - -I remember that, when I proceeded, for the first time, to ascertain -from the archives of one of the old Intendancies of France, what was -meant by a _parish_ before the Revolution, I was surprised to find in -this community, so poor and so enslaved, several of the characteristics -which had struck me long ago in the rural townships of the United -States, and which I had then erroneously conceived to be a peculiarity -of society in the New World. Neither in the one nor in the other -of these communities is there any permanent representation or any -municipal body, in the strict sense of that term; both the one and -the other were administered by officers acting separately under the -direction of the whole population. In both, meetings were held from -time to time, at which all the inhabitants, assembled in one body, -elected their own magistrates and settled their principal affairs. -These two parishes, in short, are as much alike as that which is living -can be like that which is dead. - -Different as have been the destinies of these two corporate beings, -their birth was in fact the same. - -Transported at once to regions far removed from the feudal system, and -invested with unlimited authority over itself, the rural parish of the -Middle Ages in Europe is become the township of New England. Severed -from the lordship of the soil, but grasped in the powerful hand of -the State, the rural parishes of France assumed the form I am about to -describe. - -In the eighteenth century the number and the name of the parochial -officers varied in the different provinces of France. The ancient -records show that these officers were more numerous when local life -was more active, and that they diminished in number as that life -declined. In most of the parishes they were, in the eighteenth century, -reduced to two persons--the one named the ‘Collector,’ the other most -commonly named the ‘Syndic.’ Generally, these parochial officers were -either elected, or supposed to be so; but they had everywhere become -the instruments of the State rather than the representatives of the -community. The Collector levied the _taille_, under the direct orders -of the Intendant. The Syndic, placed under the daily direction of -the Sub-delegate of the Intendant, represented that personage in all -matters relating to public order or affecting the Government. He became -the principal agent of the Government in relation to military service, -to the public works of the State, and to the execution of the general -laws of the kingdom. - -The Seigneur, as we have already seen, stood aloof from all these -details of government; he had even ceased to superintend them, or to -assist in them; nay more, these duties, which had served in earlier -times to keep up his power, appeared unworthy of his attention in -proportion to the progressive decay of that power. It would at last -have been an offence to his pride to require him to attend to them. He -had ceased to govern; but his presence in the parish and his privileges -effectually prevented any good government from being established in the -parish in place of his own. A private person differing so entirely from -the other parishioners--so independent of them, and so favoured by the -laws--weakened or destroyed the authority of all rules. - -The unavoidable contact with such a person in the country had driven -into the towns, as I shall subsequently have occasion to show, almost -all those inhabitants who had either a competency or education, so -that none remained about the Seigneur but a flock of ignorant and -uncultivated peasants, incapable of managing the administration of -their common interests. ‘A parish,’ as Turgot had justly observed, ‘is -an assemblage of cabins, and of inhabitants as passive as the cabins -they dwell in.’ - -The administrative records of the eighteenth century are full of -complaints of the incapacity, indolence, and ignorance of the parochial -collectors and syndics. Ministers, Intendants, Sub-delegates, and even -the country gentlemen, are for ever deploring these defects; but none -of them had traced these defects to their cause. - -Down to the Revolution the rural parishes of France had preserved in -their government something of that democratic aspect which they had -acquired in the Middle Ages. If the parochial officers were to be -elected, or some matter of public interest to be discussed, the village -bell summoned the peasants to the church-porch, where the poor as well -as the rich were entitled to present themselves. In these meetings -there was not indeed any regular debate or any decisive mode of voting, -but every one was at liberty to speak his mind; and it was the duty -of the notary, sent for on purpose, and operating in the open air, to -collect these different opinions and enter them in a record of the -proceedings. - -When these empty semblances of freedom are compared with the total -impotence which was connected with them, they afford an example, in -miniature, of the combination of the most absolute government with some -of the forms of extreme democracy; so that to oppression may be added -the absurdity of affecting to disguise it. This democratic assembly of -the parish could indeed express its desires, but it had no more power -to execute its will than the corporate bodies in the towns. It could -not speak until its mouth had been opened, for the meeting could not be -held without the express permission of the Intendant, and, to use the -expression of those times, which adapted their language to the fact, -‘_under his good pleasure_.’ Even if such a meeting were unanimous, it -could neither levy a rate, nor sell, nor buy, nor let, nor sue, without -the permission of the King’s Council. It was necessary to obtain a -minute of Council to repair the damage caused by the wind to the church -steeple, or to rebuild the falling gables of the parsonage. The rural -parishes most remote from Paris were just as much subject to this rule -as those nearest to the capital. I have found records of parochial -memorials to the Council for leave to spend twenty-five livres. - -The inhabitants had indeed, commonly, retained the right of electing -their parochial magistrates by universal suffrage; but it frequently -happened that the Intendant designated to this small electoral body a -candidate who never failed to be returned by a unanimity of suffrages. -Sometimes, when the election had been made by the parishioners -themselves, he set it aside, named the collector and syndic of his -own authority, and adjourned indefinitely a fresh election. There are -thousands of such examples. - -It is difficult to conceive a more cruel fate than that of these -parochial officers. The lowest agent of the Central Government, the -Sub-delegate, bent them to every caprice. Often they were fined, -sometimes imprisoned; for the securities which elsewhere defended the -citizens against arbitrary proceedings had ceased to exist for them: ‘I -have thrown into prison,’ said an Intendant in 1750, ‘some of the chief -persons in the villages who grumbled, and I have made these parishes -pay the expense of the horsemen of the patrol. By these means they have -been easily checkmated.’ The consequence was, that these parochial -functions were not considered as honours, but as burdens to be evaded -by every species of subterfuge. - -Yet these last remnants of the ancient parochial government were still -dear to the peasantry of France; and even at the present day, of all -public liberties the only one they thoroughly comprehend is parochial -freedom. The only business of a public nature which really interests -them is to be found there. Men, who readily leave the government of the -whole nation in the hand of a master, revolt at the notion of not being -able to speak their mind in the administration of their own village. So -much weight is there yet in forms the most hollow. - -What has been said of the towns and parishes of France may be extended -to almost all the corporate bodies which had any separate existence and -collective property. - -Under the social condition of France anterior to the Revolution of -1789, as well as at the present day, there was no city, town, borough, -village, or hamlet in the kingdom--there was neither hospital, church -fabric, religious house, nor college, which could have an independent -will in the management of its private affairs, or which could -administer its own property according to its own choice. Then, as now, -the executive administration therefore held the whole French people -in tutelage; and if that insolent term had not yet been invented, the -thing itself already existed. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[22] See Note XVIII., Spirit of the Government of Louis XI. - -[23] See Note XIX., Administration of a French Town in the Eighteenth -Century. - -[24] See Note XX. - -[25] See Note XXI., Administration of a Village in the Eighteenth -Century. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - ADMINISTRATIVE JURISDICTION AND THE IMMUNITY OF PUBLIC OFFICERS ARE - INSTITUTIONS OF FRANCE ANTERIOR TO THE REVOLUTION.[26] - - -In no country in Europe were the ordinary courts of justice less -dependent on the Government than in France; but in no country were -extraordinary courts of justice more extensively employed. These two -circumstances were more nearly connected than might be imagined. As the -King was almost entirely powerless in relation to the judges of the -land--as he could neither dismiss them, nor translate them, nor even, -for the most part, promote them--as, in short, he held them neither by -ambition nor by fear, their independence soon proved embarrassing to -the Crown. The result had been, in France, more than anywhere else, to -withdraw from their jurisdiction the suits in which the authority of -the Crown was directly interested, and to call into being, as it were -beside them, a species of tribunal more dependent on the sovereign, -which should present to the subjects of the Crown some semblance of -justice without any real cause for the Crown to dread its control. - -In other countries, as, for instance, in some parts of Germany, where -the ordinary courts of justice had never been as independent of the -Government as those of France, no such precautions were taken, and no -administrative justice (as it was termed) existed. The sovereign was so -far master of the judges, that he needed no special commissions. - -The edicts and declarations of the Kings of France, published -in the last century of the monarchy, and the Orders in Council -promulgated within the same period, almost all provided on behalf of -the Government, that the differences which any given measure might -occasion and the litigation which might ensue, should be exclusively -heard before the Intendants and before the Council. ‘It is moreover -ordered by his Majesty, that all the disputes which may arise upon -the execution of this order, with all the circumstances and incidents -thereunto belonging, shall be carried before the Intendant to be judged -by him, saving an appeal to the Council, and all courts of justice and -tribunals are forbidden to take cognisance of the same.’ Such was the -ordinary form of these decrees. - -In matters which fell under laws or customs of an earlier date, when -this precaution had not been taken, the Council continually intervened, -by way of what was termed _evocation_, or the calling up to its own -superior jurisdiction from the hands of the ordinary officers of -justice suits in which the administration of the State had an interest. -The registers of the Council are full of minutes of _evocation_ of this -nature. By degrees the exception became the rule, and a theory was -invented to justify the fact.[27] It came to be regarded as a maxim of -state, not in the laws of France, but in the minds of those by whom -those laws were applied, that all suits in which a public interest was -involved, or which arose out of the construction to be put on any act -of the administration, were not within the competency of the ordinary -judges, whose only business it was to decide between private interests. -On this point we, in more recent times, have only added a mode of -expression; the idea had preceded the Revolution of 1789. - -Already at that time most of the disputed questions which arose out of -the collection of the revenue were held to fall under the exclusive -jurisdiction of the Intendant and the King’s Council.[28] So, too, -with reference to the regulation of public waggons and stage-coaches, -drainage, the navigation of rivers, etc.; and in general all the suits -in which the public authorities were interested came to be disposed -of by administrative tribunals only. The Intendants took the greatest -care that this exceptional jurisdiction should be continually extended. -They urged on the Comptroller-General, and stimulated the Council. The -reason one of these officers assigned to induce the Council to call -up one of these suits deserves to be remembered. ‘An ordinary judge,’ -said he, ‘is subject to fixed rules, which compel him to punish any -transgression of the law; but the Council can always set aside rules -for a useful purpose.’ - -On this principle, it often happened that the Intendant or the -Council called up to their own jurisdiction suits which had an almost -imperceptible connection with any subject of administrative interest, -or even which had no perceptible connection with such questions at all. -A country gentleman quarrels with his neighbour, and being dissatisfied -with the apparent disposition of his judges, he asks the Council to -_evoke_ his cause. The Intendant reports that, ‘although this is a case -solely affecting private rights, which fall under the cognisance of the -courts of justice, yet that his Majesty can always, when he pleases, -reserve to himself the decision of any suit whatever, without rendering -any account at all of his motives.’ - -It was generally before the Intendant or before the Provost of the -Maréchaussée that all the lower order of people were sent for trial, -by this process of evocation, when they had been guilty of public -disturbances. Most of the riots so frequently caused by the high price -of corn gave rise to transfers of jurisdiction of this nature. The -Intendant then summoned to his court a certain number of persons, who -formed a sort of local council, chosen by himself, and with their -assistance he proceeded to try criminals. I have found sentences -delivered in this manner, by which men were condemned to the galleys, -and even to death. Criminal trials decided by the Intendant were still -common at the close of the seventeenth century. - -Modern jurists in discussing this subject of administrative -jurisdictions assert, that great progress has been made since -the Revolution. ‘Before that era,’ they say, ‘the judicial and -administrative powers were confounded; they have since been -distinguished and assigned to their respective places.’ To appreciate -correctly the progress here spoken of, it must never be forgotten, -that if on the one hand the judicial power under the old monarchy was -incessantly extending beyond the natural sphere of its authority, -yet on the other hand that sphere was never entirely filled by it. -To see one of these facts without the other is to form an incomplete -and inaccurate idea of the subject. Sometimes the courts of law were -allowed to enact regulations on matters of public administration, -which was manifestly beyond their jurisdiction; sometimes they were -restrained from judging regular suits, which was to exclude them from -the exercise of their proper functions. The modern law of France has -undoubtedly removed the administration of justice from those political -institutions into which it had very improperly been allowed to -penetrate before the Revolution; but at the same time, as has just been -shown, the Government continually invaded the proper sphere of the -judicial authorities, and this state of things is unchanged, as if the -confusion of these powers were not equally dangerous on the one side as -on the other, and even worse in the latter mode; for the intervention -of a judicial authority in administrative business is only injurious -to the transaction of affairs; but the intervention of administrative -power in judicial proceedings depraves mankind, and tends to render men -at once revolutionary and servile. - -Amongst the nine or ten constitutions which have been established in -perpetuity in France within the last sixty years, there is one in which -it was expressly provided that no agent of the administration can be -prosecuted before the ordinary courts of law without having previously -obtained the assent of the Government to such a prosecution.[29] This -clause appeared to be so well devised that when the constitution to -which it belonged was destroyed, this provision was saved from the -wreck, and it has ever since been carefully preserved from the injuries -of revolutions. The administrative body still calls the privilege -secured to them by this article one of the great conquests of 1789; but -in this they are mistaken, for under the old monarchy the Government -was not less solicitous than it is in our own times to spare its -officers the unpleasantness of rendering an account in a court of law, -like any other private citizens. The only essential difference between -the two periods is this: before the Revolution the Government could -only shelter its agents by having recourse to illegal and arbitrary -measures; since the Revolution it can legally allow them to violate the -laws. - -When the ordinary tribunals of the old monarchy allowed proceedings -to be instituted against any officer representing the central -authority of the Government, an Order in Council usually intervened -to withdraw the accused person from the jurisdiction of his judges, -and to arraign him before commissioners named by the Council; for, -as was said by a councillor of state of that time, a public officer -thus attacked would have had to encounter an adverse prepossession -in the minds of the ordinary judges, and the authority of the King -would have been compromised. This sort of interference occurred not -only at long intervals, but every day--not only with reference to -the chief agents of the Government, but to the least. The slightest -thread of a connection with the administration sufficed to relieve an -officer from all other control. A mounted overseer of the Board of -Public Works, whose business was to direct the forced labour of the -peasantry, was prosecuted by a peasant whom he had ill-treated. The -Council _evoked_ the cause, and the chief engineer of the district, -writing confidentially to the Intendant, said on this subject: ‘It is -quite true that the overseer is greatly to blame, but that is not a -reason for allowing the case to follow the ordinary jurisdiction; for -it is of the utmost importance to the Board of Works that the courts of -common law should not hear or decide on the complaints of the peasants -engaged in forced labour against the overseers of these works. If this -precedent were followed, those works would be disturbed by continual -litigation, arising out of the animosity of the public against the -officers of the Government.’ - -On another occasion the Intendant himself wrote to the -Comptroller-General with reference to a Government contractor, who -had taken his materials in a field which did not belong to him. ‘I -cannot sufficiently represent to you how injurious it would be to the -interests of the Administration if the contractors were abandoned to -the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts, whose principles can never be -reconciled to those of the Government.’ - -These lines were written precisely a hundred years ago, but it appears -as if the administrators who wrote them were our own contemporaries. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[26] [_Que la justice administrative et la garantie des fonctionnaires -sont des institutions de l’Ancien Régime._ The difficulty of rendering -these terms into intelligible English arises from the fact that at -no time in the last two centuries of the history of England has the -executive administration assumed a peculiar jurisdiction to itself or -removed its officers from the jurisdiction of the courts of common law -in this country. It will be seen in this chapter that the ordinary -jurisdictions of France have always been liable to be superseded by -extraordinary judicial authorities when the interests of the Government -or the responsibility of its agents were at stake. The arbitrary -jurisdiction of all such irregular tribunals was, in fact, abolished in -England in 1641 by the Act under which fell the Court of Star Chamber -and the High Commission.] - -[27] See Note XXII. - -[28] See Note XXIII. - -[29] [The article referred to is the 75th article of the Constitution -de l’An VIII., which provided that the agents of the executive -government, other than the ministers, could only be prosecuted for -their conduct in the discharge of their functions, in virtue of a -decision of the Council of State.] - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - SHOWING HOW CENTRALISATION HAD BEEN ABLE TO INTRODUCE ITSELF AMONG THE - ANCIENT INSTITUTIONS OF FRANCE, AND TO SUPPLANT WITHOUT DESTROYING - THEM. - - -Let us now briefly recapitulate what has been said in the three -preceding chapters. A single body or institution placed in the centre -of the kingdom regulated the public administration of the whole -country; the same Minister directed almost all the internal affairs of -the kingdom; in each province a single Government agent managed all the -details; no secondary administrative bodies existed, and none which -could act until they had been set in motion by the authority of the -State; courts of extraordinary jurisdiction judged the causes in which -the administration was interested, and sheltered all its agents. What -is this but the centralisation with which we are so well acquainted? -Its forms were less marked than they are at present; its course -was less regular, its existence more disturbed; but it is the same -being. It has not been necessary to add or to withdraw any essential -condition; the removal of all that once surrounded it at once exposed -it in the shape that now meets our eyes. - -Most of the institutions which I have just described have been imitated -subsequently, and in a hundred different places;[30] but they were at -that time peculiar to France; and we shall shortly see how great was -the influence they had on the French Revolution and on its results. - -But how came these institutions of modern date to be established in -France amidst the ruins of feudal society? - -It was a work of patience, of address, and of time, rather than of -force or of absolute power. At the time when the Revolution occurred, -scarcely any part of the old administrative edifice of France had been -destroyed; but another structure had been, as it were, called into -existence beneath it. - -There is nothing to show that the Government of the old French -monarchy followed any deliberately concerted plan to effect this -difficult operation. That Government merely obeyed the instinct which -leads all governments to aim at the exclusive management of affairs--an -instinct which ever remained the same in spite of the diversity of its -agents. The monarchy had left to the ancient powers of France their -venerable names and their honours, but it had gradually subtracted from -them their authority. They had not been expelled but enticed out of -their domains. By the indolence of one man, by the egotism of another, -the Government had found means to occupy their places. Availing itself -of all their vices, never attempting to correct but only to supersede -them, the Government at last found means to substitute for almost all -of them its own sole agent, the Intendant, whose very name was unknown -when those powers which he supplanted came into being. - -The judicial institutions had alone impeded the Government in this -great enterprise; but even there the State had seized the substance -of power, leaving only the shadow of it to its adversaries. The -Parliaments of France had not been excluded from the sphere of the -administration, but the Government had extended itself gradually -in that direction so as to appropriate almost the whole of it. In -certain extraordinary and transient emergencies, in times of scarcity, -for instance, when the passions of the people lent a support to the -ambition of the magistrates, the Central Government allowed the -Parliaments to administer for a brief interval, and to leave a trace -upon the page of history; but the Government soon silently resumed its -place, and gently extended its grasp over every class of men and of -affairs. - -In the struggles between the French Parliaments and the authority -of the Crown, it will be seen on attentive observation that these -encounters almost always took place on the field of politics, properly -so called, rather than on that of administration. These quarrels -generally arose from the introduction of a new tax; that is to say, it -was not administrative power which these rival authorities disputed, -but legislative power to which the one had as little rightful claim as -the other. - -This became more and more the case as the Revolution approached. As -the passions of the people began to take fire, the Parliaments assumed -a more active part in politics; and as at the same time the central -power and its agents were becoming more expert and more adroit, the -Parliaments took a less active part in the administration of the -country. They acquired every day less of the administrator and more of -the tribune. - -The course of events, moreover, incessantly opens new fields of action -to the executive Government, where judicial bodies have no aptitude to -follow; for these are new transactions not governed by precedent, and -alien to judicial routine. The great progress of society continually -gives birth to new wants, and each of these wants is a fresh source of -power to the Government, which is alone able to satisfy them. Whilst -the sphere of the administration of justice by the courts of law -remains unaltered, that of the executive Government is variable and -constantly expands with civilisation itself.[31] - -The Revolution which was approaching, and which had already begun -to agitate the mind of the whole French people, suggested to them a -multitude of new ideas, which the central power of the Government -could alone realise. The Revolution developed that power before it -overthrew it, and the agents of the Government underwent the same -process of improvement as everything else. This fact becomes singularly -apparent from the study of the old administrative archives. The -Comptroller-General and the Intendant of 1780 no longer resemble the -Comptroller-General and the Intendant of 1740; the administration was -already transformed, the agents were the same, but they were impelled -by a different spirit. In proportion as it became more minute and more -comprehensive, it also became more regular and more scientific. It -became more temperate as its ascendency became universal; it oppressed -less, it directed more. - -The first outbreak of the Revolution destroyed this grand institution -of the monarchy; but it was restored in 1800. It was not, as has -so often been said, the principles of 1789 which triumphed at that -time and ever since in the public administration of France, but, on -the contrary, the principles of the administration anterior to the -Revolution, which then resumed their authority and have since retained -it. - -If I am asked how this fragment of the state of society anterior to the -Revolution could thus be transplanted in its entirety, and incorporated -into the new state of society which had sprung up, I answer that if the -principle of centralisation did not perish in the Revolution, it was -because that principle was itself the precursor and the commencement of -the Revolution; and I add that when a people has destroyed Aristocracy -in its social constitution, that people is sliding by its own weight -into centralisation. Much less exertion is then required to drive it -down that declivity than to hold it back. Amongst such a people all -powers tend naturally to unity, and it is only by great ingenuity -that they can still be kept separate. The democratic Revolution -which destroyed so many of the institutions of the French monarchy, -served therefore to consolidate the centralised administration, and -centralisation seemed so naturally to find its place in the society -which the Revolution had formed that it might easily be taken for its -offspring. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[30] See Note XXIV., Traces in Canada of Centralisation of the old -French Monarchy. - -[31] See Note XXV., Example of the Intervention of the Council. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - THE ADMINISTRATIVE HABITS OF FRANCE BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. - - -It is impossible to read the letters addressed by an Intendant of one -of the provinces of France, under the old monarchy, to his superiors -and his subordinates, without admiring the similitude engendered by -similar institutions between the administrators of those times and the -administrators of our own. They seem to join hands across the abyss of -the Revolution which lies between them. The same may be said of the -people they govern. The power of legislation over the minds of men was -never more distinctly visible. - -The Ministers of the Crown had already conceived the design of taking -actual cognisance of every detail of business and of regulating -everything by their own authority from Paris. As time advanced and -the administration became more perfect, this passion increased. -Towards the end of the eighteenth century not a charitable workshop -could be established in a distant province of France until the -Comptroller-General himself had fixed the cost, drawn up the scheme, -and chosen the site. If a poor-house was to be built the Minister must -be informed of the names of the beggars who frequent it--when they -arrive--when they depart. As early as the middle of the same century -(in 1733) M. d’Argenson wrote--‘The details of business thrown upon the -Ministers are immense. Nothing is done without them, nothing except by -them, and if their information is not as extensive as their powers, -they are obliged to leave everything to be done by clerks, who become -in reality the masters.’ - -The Comptroller-General not only called for reports on matters of -business, but even for minute particulars relating to individuals. To -procure these particulars the Intendant applied in his turn to his -Sub-delegates, and of course repeated precisely what they told him, -just as if he had himself been thoroughly acquainted with the subject. - -In order to direct everything from Paris and to know everything there, -it was necessary to invent a thousand checks and means of control. The -mass of paper documents was already enormous, and such was the tedious -slowness of these administrative proceedings, that I have remarked -it always took at least a year before a parish could obtain leave to -repair a steeple or to rebuild a parsonage: more frequently two or -three years elapsed before the demand was granted. - -The Council itself remarked in one of its minutes (March 29, 1773) -that ‘the administrative formalities lead to infinite delays, and too -frequently excite very well-grounded complaints; these formalities are, -however, all necessary,’ added the Council. - -I used to believe that the taste for statistics belonged exclusively -to the administrators of the present day, but I was mistaken. At the -time immediately preceding the Revolution of 1789 small printed tables -were frequently sent to the Intendant, which he merely had to get -filled up by his Sub-delegates and by the Syndics of parishes. The -Comptroller-General required reports upon the nature of the soil, the -methods of cultivation, the quality and quantity of the produce, the -number of cattle, and the occupations and manners of the inhabitants. -The information thus obtained was neither less circumstantial nor more -accurate than that afforded under similar circumstances by Sub-prefects -and Mayors at the present day. The opinions recorded on these occasions -by the Sub-delegates, as to the character of those under their -authority, were for the most part far from favourable. They continually -repeated that ‘the peasants are naturally lazy, and would not work -unless forced to do so in order to live.’ This economical doctrine -seemed very prevalent amongst this class of administrators. - -Even the official language of the two periods is strikingly alike. In -both the style is equally colourless, flowing, vague, and feeble; the -peculiar characteristics of each individual writer are effaced and -lost in a general mediocrity. It is much the same thing to read the -effusions of a modern Prefect or of an ancient Intendant. - -Towards the end of a century, however, when the peculiar language -of Diderot and Rousseau had had time to spread and mingle with the -vulgar tongue, the false sensibility, with which the works of those -writers are filled, infected the administrators and reached even the -financiers. The official style, usually so dry in its texture, was -become more unctuous and even tender. A Sub-delegate laments to the -Intendant of Paris ‘that in the exercise of his functions he often -feels grief most poignant to a feeling heart.’ - -Then, as at the present time, the Government distributed certain -charitable donations among the various parishes, on condition that the -inhabitants should on their part give certain alms. When the sum thus -offered by them was sufficient, the Comptroller-General wrote on the -margin of the list of contributions, ‘Good; express satisfaction;’ but -if the sum was considerable, he wrote, ‘Good; express satisfaction and -sensibility.’ - -The administrative functionaries, nearly all belonging to the middle -ranks, already formed a class imbued with a spirit peculiar to itself, -and possessing traditions, virtues, an honour and a pride of its -own. This was, in fact, the aristocracy of the new order of society, -completely formed and ready to start into life; it only waited until -the Revolution had made room for it. - -The administration of France was already characterised by the violent -hatred which it entertained indiscriminately towards all those not -within its own pale, whether belonging to the nobility or to the -middle classes, who attempted to take any part in public affairs. The -smallest independent body, which seemed likely to be formed without -its intervention, caused alarm; the smallest voluntary association, -whatever was its object, was considered troublesome; and none were -suffered to exist but those which it composed in an arbitrary manner, -and over which it presided. Even the great industrial companies -found little favour in the eyes of the administration; in a word, it -did not choose that the citizens should take any concern whatever -in the examination of their own affairs, and preferred sterility to -competition. But, as it has always been necessary to allow the French -people the indulgence of a little licence to console them for their -servitude, the Government suffered them to discuss with great freedom -all sorts of general and abstract theories of religion, philosophy, -morals, and even politics. It was ready enough to allow the fundamental -principles upon which society then rested to be attacked, and the -existence of God himself to be discussed, provided no comments were -made upon the very least of its own agents. Such speculations were -supposed to be altogether irrelevant to the State. - -Although the newspapers of the eighteenth century, or as they were -then called the gazettes, contained more epigrams than polemics, the -administration looked upon this small power with a very jealous eye. -It was indulgent enough towards books, but already extremely harsh -towards newspapers; so, being unable altogether to suppress them, -it endeavoured to turn them to its own purposes. Under the date of -1761 I find a circular addressed to all the Intendants throughout the -kingdom, announcing that the King (Louis XV.) had directed that in -future the ‘Gazette de France’ should be drawn up under the inspection -of the Government; ‘his Majesty being desirous,’ says the circular, ‘to -render that journal interesting, and to ensure to it a superiority -over all others. In consequence whereof,’ adds the Minister, ‘you will -take care to send me a bulletin of everything that happens in your -district likely to engage the curiosity of the public, more especially -whatever relates to physical science, natural history, or remarkable -and interesting occurrences.’ This circular is accompanied by a -prospectus setting forth that the new Gazette, though appearing oftener -and containing more matter than the journal which it supersedes, will -cost the subscribers much less. - -Furnished with these documents, the Intendant wrote to his -Sub-delegates and set them to work; but at first they replied that they -knew nothing. This called forth a second letter from the Minister, -complaining bitterly of the sterility of the province as to news. ‘His -Majesty commands me to tell you that it is his intention that you -should pay very serious attention to this matter, and that you should -give the most precise order to your agents.’ Hereupon the Sub-delegates -undertake the task. One of them reported that a smuggler of salt had -been hung, and had displayed great courage; another that a woman in his -district had been delivered of three girls at a birth; a third that a -dreadful storm had occurred, though without doing any mischief. One of -them declared that in spite of all his efforts he had been unable to -discover anything worth recording, but that he would subscribe himself -to so useful a journal, and would exhort all respectable persons to -follow his example. All these efforts seem, however, to have produced -but little effect, for a fresh letter informs us that ‘the King, who -has the goodness,’ as the Minister says, ‘himself to enter into the -whole detail of the measures for perfecting the Gazette, and who wishes -to give to this journal the superiority and celebrity it deserves, has -testified much dissatisfaction on seeing his views so ill carried out.’ - -History is a picture gallery, containing few originals and a great many -copies. - -It must be admitted, however, that in France the Central Government -never imitated those Governments of the South of Europe which seem to -have taken possession of everything only in order to render everything -barren. The French Government frequently showed great intelligence as -to its functions, and always displayed prodigious activity. But its -activity was often unproductive and even mischievous, because at times -it endeavoured to do that which was beyond its power, or that which no -one could control. - -It rarely attempted, or quickly abandoned, the most necessary -reforms, which could only be carried out by persevering energy; but -it constantly changed its by-laws and its regulations. Within the -sphere of its presence nothing remained in repose for a moment. New -regulations succeeded each other with such extraordinary rapidity that -the agents of Government, amidst the multiplicity of commands they -received, often found it difficult to discover how to obey them. Some -municipal officers complained to the Comptroller-General himself of the -extreme mobility of this subordinate legislation. ‘The variation of the -financial regulations alone,’ said they, ‘is such, that a municipal -officer, even were his appointment permanent, has no time for anything -but studying the new rules as fast as they come out, even to the extent -of being forced to neglect his own business.’ - -Even when the law itself was not altered its application varied every -day. Without seeing the working of the administration under the old -French Government in the secret documents which are still in existence, -it is impossible to imagine the contempt into which the law eventually -falls, even in the eyes of those charged with the application of it, -when there are no longer either political assemblies or public journals -to check the capricious activity, or to set bounds to the arbitrary and -changeable humour of the Ministers and their offices. - -We hardly find a single Order in Council that does not recite some -anterior laws, often of very recent date, which had been enacted but -never executed. There was not an edict, a royal declaration, or any -solemnly registered letters-patent, that did not encounter a thousand -impediments in its application. The letters of the Comptrollers-General -and the Intendants show that the Government constantly permitted things -to be done, by exception, at variance with its own orders. It rarely -broke the law, but the law was perpetually made to bend slightly in all -directions to meet particular cases, and to facilitate the conduct of -affairs. - -An Intendant writes to the minister with reference to a duty of -_octroi_ from which a contractor of public works wanted to be exempted: -‘It is certain that according to the strict letter of the edicts and -decrees which I have just quoted, no person throughout the kingdom is -exempted from these duties; but those who are versed in the knowledge -of affairs are well aware that these imperative enactments stand on the -same footing as to the penalties which they impose, and that although -they are to be found in almost every edict, declaration, and decree -for the imposition of taxes, they have never prevented exceptions from -being made.’ - -The whole essence of the then state of France is contained in this -passage: rigid rules and lax practice were its characteristics. - -Any one who should attempt to judge the Government of that period by -the collection of its laws would fall into the most absurd mistakes. -Under the date 1757 I have found a royal declaration condemning to -death any one who shall compose or print writings contrary to religion -or established order. The bookseller who sells and the pedlar who hawks -them are to suffer the same punishment. Was this in the age of St. -Dominic? It was under the supremacy of Voltaire. - -It is a common subject of complaint against the French that they -despise law; but when, alas! could they have learned to respect it? It -may be truly said that amongst the men of the period I am describing, -the place which should be filled in the human mind by the notion of -_law_ was empty. Every petitioner entreated that the established order -of things should be set aside in his favour with as much vehemence and -authority as if he were demanding that it should be properly enforced; -and indeed its authority was never alleged against him but as a means -of getting rid of his importunity. The submission of the people to the -existing powers was still complete, but their obedience was the effect -of custom rather than of will, and when by chance they were stirred -up, the slightest excitement led at once to violence, which again was -almost always repressed by counter-violence and arbitrary power, not by -the law. - -In the eighteenth century the central authority in France had not -yet acquired that sound and vigorous constitution which it has since -exhibited; nevertheless, as it had already succeeded in destroying all -intermediate authorities, and had left only a vast blank between itself -and the individuals constituting the nation, it already appeared to -each of them from a distance as the only spring of the social machine, -the sole and indispensable agent of public life. - -Nothing shows this more fully than the writings even of its detractors. -When the long period of uneasiness which preceded the Revolution -began to be felt, all sorts of new systems of society and government -were concocted. The ends which these various reformers had in view -were various, but the means they proposed were always the same. They -wanted to employ the power of the central authority in order to -destroy all existing institutions, and to reconstruct them according -to some new plan of their own device; no other power appeared to them -capable of accomplishing such a task. The power of the State ought, -they said, to be as unlimited as its rights; all that was required -was to force it to make a proper use of both. The elder Mirabeau, a -nobleman so imbued with the notion of the rights of his order that he -openly called the Intendants ‘intruders,’ and declared that if the -appointment of the magistrates was left altogether in the hands of -the Government, the courts of justice would soon be mere ‘bands of -commissioners,’--Mirabeau himself looked only to the action of the -central authority to realise his visionary schemes. - -These ideas were not confined to books; they found entrance into men’s -minds, modified their customs, affected their habits, and penetrated -throughout society, even into every-day life. - -No one imagined that any important affair could be properly carried -out without the intervention of the State. Even the agriculturists--a -class usually refractory to precept--were disposed to think that if -agriculture did not improve, it was the fault of the Government, which -did not give them sufficient advice and assistance. One of them writes -to an Intendant in a tone of irritation which foreshadows the coming -Revolution. ‘Why does not the Government appoint inspectors to go -once a year into the provinces to examine the state of cultivation, -to instruct the cultivators how to improve it--to tell them what to -do with their cattle, how to fatten, rear, and sell them, and where -to take them to market? These inspectors should be well paid; and the -farmers who exhibited proofs of the best system of husbandry should -receive some mark of honour.’ - -Agricultural inspectors and crosses of honour! Such means of -encouraging agriculture never would have entered into the head of a -Suffolk farmer. - -In the eyes of the majority of the French the Government was alone -able to ensure public order; the people were afraid of nothing but the -patrols, and men of property had no confidence in anything else. Both -classes regarded the gendarme on his rounds not merely as the chief -defender of order, but as order itself. ‘No one,’ says the provincial -assembly of Guyenne, ‘can fail to observe that the sight of a patrol is -well calculated to restrain those most hostile to all subordination.’ -Accordingly every one wanted to have a squadron of them at his own -door. The archives of an intendancy are full of requests of this -nature; no one seemed to suspect that under the guise of a protector a -master might be concealed.[32] - -Nothing struck the émigrés so much on their arrival in England as the -absence of this military force. It filled them with surprise, and often -even with contempt, for the English. One of them, a man of ability, -but whose education had not prepared him for what he was to see, wrote -as follows:--‘It is perfectly true that an Englishman congratulates -himself on having been robbed, on the score that at any rate there -is no patrol in his country. A man may lament anything that disturbs -public tranquillity, but he will nevertheless comfort himself, when he -sees the turbulent restored to society, with the reflection that the -letter of the law is stronger than all other considerations. Such false -notions, however,’ he adds, ‘are not absolutely universal; there are -some wise people who think otherwise, and wisdom must prevail in the -end.’ - -But that these eccentricities of the English could have any connection -with their liberties never entered into the mind of this observer. He -chose rather to explain the phenomenon by more scientific reasons. -‘In a country,’ said he, ‘where the moisture of the climate, and the -want of elasticity in the air, give a sombre tinge to the temperament, -the people are disposed to give themselves up to serious objects. The -English people are naturally inclined to occupy themselves with the -affairs of government, to which the French are averse.’ - -The French Government having thus assumed the place of Providence, it -was natural that every one should invoke its aid in his individual -necessities. Accordingly we find an immense number of petitions which, -while affecting to relate to the public interest, really concern -only small individual interests.[33] The boxes containing them are -perhaps the only place in which all the classes composing that society -of France, which has long ceased to exist, are still mingled. It -is a melancholy task to read them: we find peasants praying to be -indemnified for the loss of their cattle or their horses; wealthy -landowners asking for assistance in rendering their estates more -productive; manufacturers soliciting from the Intendant privileges -by which they may be protected from a troublesome competition, and -very frequently confiding the embarrassed state of their affairs to -him, and begging him to obtain for them relief or a loan from the -Comptroller-General. It appears that some fund was set apart for this -purpose. - -Even the nobles were often very importunate solicitants; the only mark -of their condition is the lofty tone in which they begged. The tax of -twentieths was to many of them the principal link in the chain of their -dependence.[2] Their quota of this tax was fixed every year by the -Council upon the report of the Intendant, and to him they addressed -themselves in order to obtain delays and remissions. I have read a host -of petitions of this nature made by nobles, nearly all men of title, -and often of very high rank, in consideration, as they stated, of the -insufficiency of their revenues, or the disordered state of their -affairs. The nobles usually addressed the Intendant as ‘Monsieur;’ but -I have observed that, under these circumstances, they invariably called -him ‘Monseigneur,’ as was usually done by men of the middle class. -Sometimes pride and poverty were drolly mixed in these petitions. One -of the nobles wrote to the Intendant: ‘Your feeling heart will never -consent to see the father of a family of my rank strictly taxed by -twentieths like a father of the lower classes.’ At the periods of -scarcity, which were so frequent during the eighteenth century, the -whole population of each district looked to the Intendant, and appeared -to expect to be fed by him alone. It is true that every man already -blamed the Government for all his sufferings. The most inevitable -privations were ascribed to it, and even the inclemency of the seasons -was made a subject of reproach to it. - -We need not be astonished at the marvellous facility with which -centralisation was re-established in France at the beginning of this -century.[34] The men of 1789 had overthrown the edifice, but its -foundations remained deep in the very minds of the destroyers, and on -these foundations it was easy to build it up anew, and to make it more -stable than it had ever been before. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[32] See Note XXVI., Additional Patrols. - -[33] See Note XXVII., Bureaux de Tabac. - -[34] See Note XXVIII., Extinction of Loyal Activity. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - OF ALL EUROPEAN NATIONS FRANCE WAS ALREADY THAT IN WHICH THE - METROPOLIS HAD ACQUIRED THE GREATEST PREPONDERANCE OVER THE - PROVINCES, AND HAD MOST COMPLETELY ABSORBED THE WHOLE EMPIRE. - - -The political preponderance of capital cities over the rest of the -empire is caused neither by their situation, their size, nor their -wealth, but by the nature of the government. London, which contains -the population of a kingdom, has never hitherto exercised a sovereign -influence over the destinies of Great Britain. No citizen of the United -States ever imagined that the inhabitants of New York could decide -the fate of the American Union. Nay more, no one even in the State of -New York conceives that the will of that city alone could direct the -affairs of the nation. Yet New York at this moment numbers as many -inhabitants as Paris contained when the Revolution broke out. - -At the time of the wars of religion in France Paris was thickly peopled -in proportion to the rest of the kingdom as in 1789. Nevertheless, at -that time it had no decisive power. At the time of the Fronde Paris was -still no more than the largest city in France. In 1789 it was already -France itself. - -As early as 1740 Montesquieu wrote to one of his friends, ‘Nothing is -left in France but Paris and the distant provinces, because Paris has -not yet had time to devour them.’ In 1750 the Marquis de Mirabeau, a -fanciful but sometimes deep thinker, said, in speaking of Paris without -naming it: ‘Capital cities are necessary; but if the head grows too -large, the body becomes apoplectic and the whole perishes. What then -will be the result, if by giving over the provinces to a sort of direct -dependence, and considering their inhabitants only as subjects of the -Crown of an inferior order, to whom no means of consideration are left -and no career for ambition is open, every man possessing any talent is -drawn towards the capital!’ He called this a kind of silent revolution -which must deprive the provinces of all their men of rank, business, -and talent. - -The reader who has followed the preceding chapters attentively already -knows the causes of this phenomenon; it would be a needless tax on his -patience to enumerate them afresh in this place. - -This revolution did not altogether escape the attention of the -Government, but chiefly by its physical effect on the growth of the -city. The Government saw the daily extension of Paris and was afraid -that it would become difficult to administer so large a city properly. -A great number of ordinances issued by the Kings of France, chiefly -during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, were destined to put a -stop to the growth of the capital. These sovereigns were concentrating -the whole public life of France more and more in Paris or at its gates, -and yet they wanted Paris to remain a small city. The erection of new -houses was forbidden, or else commands were issued that they should be -built in the most costly manner and in unattractive situations which -were fixed upon beforehand. Every one of these ordinances, it is true, -declares, that in spite of all preceding edicts Paris had continued to -spread. Six times during the course of his reign did Louis XIV., in the -height of his power, in vain attempt to check the increase of Paris; -the city grew continually in spite of all edicts. Its political and -social preponderance increased even faster than its walls, not so much -owing to what took place within them as to the events passing without. - -During this period all local liberties gradually became extinct, the -symptoms of independent vitality disappeared. The distinctive features -of the various provinces became confused, and the last traces of the -ancient public life were effaced. Not that the nation was falling into -a state of languor; on the contrary, activity everywhere prevailed; -but the motive principle was no longer anywhere but in Paris. I will -cite but one example of this from amongst a thousand. In the reports -made to the Minister on the condition of the bookselling trade, I find -that in the sixteenth century and at the beginning of the seventeenth, -many considerable printing offices existed in provincial towns which -are now without printers, or where the printers are without work. Yet -there can be no doubt that many more literary productions of all kinds -were published at the end of the eighteenth century than during the -sixteenth; but all mental activity now emanated from the centre alone; -Paris had totally absorbed the provinces. At the time when the French -Revolution broke out, this first revolution was fully accomplished. - -The celebrated traveller Arthur Young left Paris soon after the -meeting of the States-General, and a few days before the taking of the -Bastille; the contrast between that which he had just seen in the city -and that which he found beyond its walls filled him with surprise. In -Paris all was noise and activity; every hour produced a fresh political -pamphlet; as many as ninety-two were published in a week. ‘Never,’ -said he, ‘did I see such activity in publishing, even in London.’ Out -of Paris all seemed inert and silent; few pamphlets and no newspapers -were printed. Nevertheless, the provinces were agitated and ready for -action, but motionless; if the inhabitants assembled from time to time, -it was in order to hear the news which they expected from Paris. In -every town Young asked the inhabitants what they intended to do? ‘The -answer,’ he says, ‘was always the same: “Ours is but a provincial town; -we must wait to see what will be done at Paris.” These people,’ he -adds, ‘do not even venture to have an opinion until they know what is -thought at Paris.’ - -Nothing was more astonishing than the extraordinary ease with which -the Constituent Assembly destroyed at a single stroke all the ancient -French provinces, many of which were older than the monarchy, and then -divided the kingdom methodically into eighty-three distinct portions, -as though it had been the virgin soil of the New World. Europe was -surprised and alarmed by a spectacle for which it was so little -prepared. ‘This is the first time,’ said Burke, ‘that we have seen men -tear their native land in pieces in so barbarous a manner.’ No doubt -it appeared like tearing in pieces living bodies, but, in fact, the -provinces that were thus dismembered were only corpses. - -While Paris was thus finally establishing its supremacy externally, a -change took place within its own walls equally deserving the notice -of history. After having been a city merely of exchange, of business, -of consumption, and of pleasure, Paris had now become a manufacturing -town; a second fact, which gave to the first a new and more formidable -character. - -The origin of this change was very remote; it appears that even during -the Middle Ages Paris was already the most industrious as well as the -largest city of the kingdom. This becomes more manifest as we approach -modern times. In the same degree that the business of administration -was brought to Paris, industrial affairs found their way thither. As -Paris became more and more the arbiter of taste, the sole centre of -power and of the arts, and the chief focus of national activity, the -industrial life of the nation withdrew and concentrated itself there in -the same proportion. - -Although the statistical documents anterior to the Revolution are, for -the most part, deserving of little confidence, I think it may safely -be affirmed that, during the sixty years which preceded the French -Revolution, the number of artisans in Paris was more than doubled; -whereas during the same period the general population of the city -scarcely increased one third. - -Independently of the general causes which I have stated, there were -other very peculiar causes which attracted working men to Paris from -all parts of France, and agglomerated them by degrees in particular -quarters of the town, which they ended by occupying almost exclusively. -The restrictions imposed upon manufactures by the fiscal legislation -of the time were lighter at Paris than anywhere else in France; -it was nowhere so easy to escape from the tyranny of the guilds. -Certain faubourgs, such as the Faubourg St. Antoine, and of the -Temple specially, enjoyed great privileges of this nature. Louis XVI. -considerably enlarged these immunities of the Faubourg St. Antoine, -and did his best to gather together an immense working population -in that spot, ‘being desirous,’ said that unfortunate monarch, in -one of his edicts, ‘to bestow upon the artisans of the Faubourg St. -Antoine a further mark of our protection, and to relieve them from the -restrictions which are injurious to their interests as well as to the -freedom of trade.’ - -The number of workshops, manufactories, and foundries had increased -so greatly in Paris, towards the approach of the Revolution, that the -Government at length became alarmed at it. The sight of this progress -inspired it with many imaginary terrors. Amongst other things, we find -an Order in Council, in 1782, stating that ‘the King, apprehending -that the rapid increase of manufactures would cause a consumption of -wood likely to become prejudicial to the supply of the city, prohibits -for the future the creation of any establishment of this nature within -a circuit of fifteen leagues round Paris.’ The real danger likely to -arise from such an agglomeration gave no uneasiness to any one. - -Thus then Paris had become the mistress of France, and the popular -army which was destined to make itself master of Paris was already -assembling. - -It is pretty generally admitted, I believe, now, that administrative -centralisation and the omnipotence of Paris have had a great share -in the overthrow of all the various governments which have succeeded -one another during the last forty years. It will not be difficult to -show that the same state of things contributed largely to the sudden -and violent ruin of the old monarchy, and must be numbered among the -principal causes of that first Revolution which has produced all the -succeeding ones. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - - FRANCE WAS THE COUNTRY IN WHICH MEN HAD BECOME THE MOST ALIKE. - - -If we carefully examine the state of society in France before the -Revolution we may see it under two very contrary aspects. It would seem -that the men of that time, especially those belonging to the middle -and upper ranks of society, who alone were at all conspicuous, were -all exactly alike. Nevertheless we find that this monotonous crowd -was divided into many different parts by a prodigious number of small -barriers, and that each of these small divisions formed a distinct -society, exclusively occupied with its own peculiar interests, and -taking no share in the life of the community at large. - -When we consider this almost infinitesimal division, we shall perceive -that the citizens of no other nation were so ill prepared to act in -common, or to afford each other a mutual support during a crisis; and -that a society thus constituted might be utterly demolished in a moment -by a great revolution. Imagine all those small barriers thrown down by -an earthquake, and the result is at once a social body more compact and -more homogeneous than any perhaps that the world had ever seen. - -I have shown that throughout nearly the whole kingdom the independent -life of the provinces had long been extinct; this had powerfully -contributed to render all Frenchmen very much alike. Through the -diversities which still subsisted the unity of the nation might already -be discerned; uniformity of legislation brought it to light. As the -eighteenth century advanced there was a great increase in the number -of edicts, royal declarations, and Orders in Council, applying the -same regulations in the same manner in every part of the empire. It -was not the governing body alone but the mass of those governed, who -conceived the idea of a legislation so general and so uniform, the same -everywhere and for all: this idea was apparent in all the plans of -reform which succeeded each other for thirty years before the outbreak -of the Revolution. Two centuries earlier the very materials for such -conceptions, if we may use such a phrase, would have been wanting. - -Not only did the provinces become more and more alike, but in each -province men of various classes, those at least who were placed above -the common people, grew to resemble each other more and more, in spite -of differences of rank. Nothing displays this more clearly than the -perusal of the instructions to the several Orders of the States-General -of 1789. The interests of those who drew them up were widely different, -but in all else they were identical. In the proceedings of the earlier -States-General the state of things was totally different; the middle -classes and the nobility had then more common interests, more business -in common; they displayed far less reciprocal animosity; yet they -appeared to belong to two distinct races. Time, which had perpetuated, -and, in many respects, aggravated the privileges interposed between two -classes of men, had powerfully contributed to render them alike in all -other respects. For several centuries the French nobility had grown -gradually poorer and poorer. ‘Spite of its privileges the nobility is -ruined and wasted day by day, and the middle classes get possession of -the large fortunes,’ wrote a nobleman in a melancholy strain in 1755. -Yet the laws by which the estates of the nobility were protected still -remained the same, nothing appeared to be changed in their economical -condition. Nevertheless, the more they lost their power the poorer they -everywhere became, in exactly the same proportion. - -It would seem as if, in all human institutions as in man himself, there -exists, independently of the organs which manifestly fulfil the various -functions of existence, some central and invisible force which is the -very principle of life. In vain do the organs appear to act as before; -when this vivifying flame is extinct the whole structure languishes and -dies. The French nobility still had entails (indeed Burke remarked, -that in his time entails were more frequent and more strict in France -than in England), the right of primogeniture, territorial and perpetual -dues, and whatever was called a beneficial interest in land. They had -been relieved from the heavy obligation of carrying on war at their own -charge, and at the same time had retained an increased exemption from -taxation; that is to say, they kept the compensation and got rid of the -burden. Moreover, they enjoyed several other pecuniary advantages which -their forefathers had never possessed; nevertheless they gradually -became impoverished in the same degree that they lost the exercise and -the spirit of government. Indeed it is to this gradual impoverishment -that the vast subdivision of landed property, which we have already -remarked, must be partly attributed. The nobles had sold their lands -piecemeal to the peasants, reserving to themselves only the seignorial -rights which gave them the appearance rather than the reality of -their former position. Several provinces of France, like the Limousin -mentioned by Turgot, were filled with a small poor nobility, owning -hardly any land, and living only on seignorial rights and rent-charges -on their former estates.[35] - -‘In this district,’ says an Intendant at the beginning of the century, -‘the number of noble families still amounts to several thousands, but -there are not fifteen amongst them who have twenty thousand livres -a year.’ I find in some minutes addressed by another Intendant (of -Franche-Comté) to his successor, in 1750, ‘the nobility of this part -of the country is pretty good but extremely poor, and as proud as it -is poor. It is greatly humbled compared to what it used to be. It is -not bad policy to keep the nobles in this state of poverty in order -to compel them to serve, and to stand in need of our assistance. They -form,’ he adds, ‘a confraternity, into which those only are admitted -who can prove four quarterings. This confraternity is not patented -but only allowed; it meets only once a year, and in the presence of -the Intendant. After dining and hearing mass together, these noblemen -return, every man to his home, some on their rosinantes and the rest on -foot. You will see what a comical assemblage it is.’ - -This gradual impoverishment of the nobility was more or less apparent, -not only in France, but in all parts of the Continent, in which, as in -France, the feudal system was finally dying out without being replaced -by a new form of aristocracy. This decay was especially manifest and -excited great attention amongst the German States on the banks of the -Rhine. In England alone the contrary was the case. There the ancient -noble families which still existed had not only kept, but greatly -increased their fortunes; they were still first in riches as in power. -The new families which had risen beside them had only copied but had -not surpassed their wealth. - -In France the non-noble classes alone seemed to inherit all the wealth -which the nobility had lost; they fattened, as it were, upon its -substance. Yet there were no laws to prevent the middle class from -ruining themselves, or to assist them in acquiring riches; nevertheless -they incessantly increased their wealth; in many instances they had -become as rich as, and often richer than the nobles. Nay, more, their -wealth was of the same kind, for, though dwelling in the town, they -were often landowners in the country, and sometimes they even bought -seignorial estates. - -Education and habits of life had already created a thousand other -points of resemblance between these two classes of men. The middle -class man was as enlightened as the noble, and it deserves to be -remarked, his acquirements were derived from the very same source. -The same light shone upon both. Their education had been equally -theoretical and literary. Paris, which became more and more the sole -preceptor of France, had ended by giving to all minds one common form -and action. - -At the end of the eighteenth century no doubt some difference was still -perceptible between the manners of the nobility and those of the middle -class, for nothing assimilates more slowly than that surface of society -which we call manners; at bottom, however, all men above the rank of -the common people were alike; they had the same ideas, the same habits, -the same tastes; they indulged in the same pleasures, read the same -books, and spoke the same language. The only difference left between -them was in their rights. - -I much doubt whether this was the case in the same degree anywhere -else, even in England, where the different classes, though firmly -united by common interests, still differed in their habits and -feelings; for political liberty, which possesses the admirable power of -placing the citizens of a State in compulsory intercourse and mutual -dependence, does not on that account always make them similar; it is -the government of one man which, in the end, has the inevitable effect -of rendering all men alike, and all mutually indifferent to their -common fate. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[35] See Note XXIX., Seignorial Dues in different Provinces of France. - - - - -CHAPTER IX. - - SHOWING HOW MEN THUS SIMILAR WERE MORE DIVIDED THAN EVER INTO SMALL - GROUPS, ESTRANGED FROM AND INDIFFERENT TO EACH OTHER. - - -Let us now look at the other side of the picture, and we shall see that -these same Frenchmen, who had so many points of resemblance amongst -themselves, were, nevertheless, more completely isolated from each -other than perhaps the inhabitants of any other country, or than had -ever been the case before in France. - -It seems extremely probable that, at the time of the first -establishment of the feudal system in Europe, the class which was -subsequently called the nobility did not at once form a _caste_, -but was originally composed of the chief men of the nation, and was -therefore, in the beginning, merely an aristocracy. This, however, is -a question which I have no intention of discussing here; it will be -sufficient to remark that, during the Middle Ages, the nobility had -become a caste, that is to say, that its distinctive mark was birth. - -It retained, indeed, one of the proper characteristics of an -aristocracy, that of being a governing body of citizens; but birth -alone decided who should be at the head of this body. Whoever was not -born noble was excluded from this close and particular class, and could -only fill a position more or less exalted but still subordinate in the -State. - -Wherever on the continent of Europe the feudal system had been -established it ended in caste; in England alone it returned to -aristocracy. - -It has always excited my surprise that a fact which distinguishes -England from all other modern nations, and which alone can throw -light upon the peculiarities of its laws, its spirit, and its -history, has not attracted to a still greater degree the attention of -philosophers and statesmen, and that habit has rendered it, as it were, -imperceptible to the English themselves. It has frequently been seen by -glimpses, and imperfectly described, but no complete and distinct view -has, I believe, ever been taken of it. Montesquieu, it is true, on -visiting Great Britain in 1739, wrote, ‘I am now in a country which has -little resemblance to the rest of Europe:’ but that is all. - -It was indeed, not so much its parliament, its liberty, its publicity, -or its jury, which at that time rendered England so unlike the rest -of Europe; it was something far more peculiar and far more powerful. -England was the only country in which the system of caste had been -not only modified, but effectually destroyed. The nobility and the -middle classes in England followed the same business, embraced the same -professions, and, what is far more significant, intermarried with each -other. The daughter of the greatest nobleman could already without -disgrace marry a man of yesterday. - -In order to ascertain whether caste, with the ideas, habits, and -barriers it creates amongst a nation, is definitely destroyed, look -at its marriages. They alone give the decisive feature which we seek. -At this very day, in France, after sixty years of democracy, we shall -generally seek it in vain. The old and the new families, between which -no distinction any longer appears to exist, avoid as much as possible -to intermingle with each other by marriage. - -It has often been remarked that the English nobility has been more -prudent, more able, and less exclusive than any other. It would have -been much nearer the truth to say, that in England, for a very long -time past, no nobility, properly so called, has existed, if we take the -word in the ancient and limited sense it has everywhere else retained. - -This singular revolution is lost in the night of ages, but a living -witness of it yet survives in the idiom of language. For several -centuries the word _gentleman_ has altogether changed its meaning in -England, and the word _roturier_ has ceased to exist. It would have -been impossible to translate literally into English the well-known line -from the ‘Tartuffe,’ even when Molière wrote it in 1664:-- - - Et tel qu’on le voit, il est bon gentilhomme. - -If we make a further application of the science of languages to the -science of history, and pursue the fate of the word _gentleman_ -through time and through space,--the offspring of the French word -_gentilhomme_,--we shall find its application extending in England -in the same proportion in which classes draw near one another and -amalgamate. In each succeeding century it is applied to persons placed -somewhat lower in the social scale. At length it travelled with the -English to America, where it is used to designate every citizen -indiscriminately. Its history is that of democracy itself. - -In France the word _gentilhomme_ has always been strictly limited to -its original meaning; since the Revolution it has been almost disused, -but its application has never changed. The word which was used to -designate the members of the caste was kept intact, because the caste -itself was maintained as separate from all the rest as it had ever been. - -I go even further, and assert that this caste had become far more -exclusive than it was when the word was first invented, and that in -France a change had taken place in the direction opposed to that which -had occurred in England. - -Though the nobility and the middle class in France had become far more -alike, they were at the same time more isolated from each other--two -things which are so essentially distinct that the former, instead of -extenuating the latter, may frequently aggravate it. - -During the Middle Ages, and whilst the feudal system was still in -force, all those who held land under a lord (and who were properly -called vassals, in feudal law) were constantly associated with the -lord, though many of them were not noble, in the government of the -Seignory; indeed this was the principal condition of their tenures. Not -only were they bound to follow the lord to war, but they were bound, in -virtue of their holdings, to spend a certain part of the year at his -court, that is in helping him to administer justice, and to govern the -inhabitants. The lord’s court was the mainspring of the feudal system -of government; it played a part in all the ancient laws of Europe, -and very distinct vestiges of it may still be found in many parts of -Germany. The learned feudalist, Edmé de Fréminville, who, thirty years -before the French Revolution, thought fit to write a thick volume on -feudal rights and on the renovation of manor rolls, informs us that -he had seen in ‘the titles of a number of manors, that the vassals -were obliged to appear every fortnight at the lord’s court, and that -being there assembled they judged conjointly with the lord and his -ordinary judge, the assizes and differences which had arisen between -the inhabitants.’ He adds, that he had found ‘there were sometimes -eighty, one hundred and fifty, and even as many as two hundred vassals -in one lordship, a great number of whom were _roturiers_.’ I have -quoted this, not as a proof, for a thousand others might be adduced, -but as an example of the manner in which at the beginning, and for -long afterwards, the rural classes were united with the nobility, and -mingled with them daily in the conduct of affairs. That which the -lord’s court did for the small rural proprietors, the Provincial -Estates, and subsequently the States-General, effected for the citizens -of the towns. - -It is impossible to study the records of the States-General of the -fourteenth century, and above all of the Provincial Estates of the -same period, without being astonished at the importance of the place -which the _Tiers-Etat_ filled in those assemblies, and at the power it -wielded in them. - -As a man the burgess of the fourteenth century was, doubtless, very -inferior to the burgess of the eighteenth; but the middle class, as a -body, filled a far higher and more secure place in political society. -Its right to a share in the government was uncontested; the part which -it played in political assemblies was always considerable and often -preponderating. The other classes of the community were forced to a -constant reckoning with the people. - -But what strikes us most is, that the nobility and the _Tiers-Etat_ -found it at that time so much easier to transact business together, or -to offer a common resistance, than they have ever found it since. This -is observable not only in the States-General of the fourteenth century, -many of which had an irregular and revolutionary character impressed -upon them by the disasters of the time, but in the Provincial Estates -of the same period, where nothing seems to have interrupted the regular -and habitual course of affairs. Thus, in Auvergne, we find that the -three Orders took the most important measures in common, and that the -execution of them was superintended by commissioners chosen equally -from all three. The same thing occurred at the same time in Champagne. -Every one knows the famous act by which, at the beginning of the same -century, the nobles and burgesses of a large number of towns combined -together to defend the franchises of the nation and the privileges of -their provinces against the encroachments of the Crown. During that -period of French history we find many such episodes, which appear as if -borrowed from the history of England. In the following centuries events -of this character altogether disappeared.[36] - -The fact is, that as by degrees the government of the lordships -became disorganised, and the States-General grew rarer or ceased -altogether--that as the general liberties of the country were finally -destroyed, involving the local liberties in their ruin--the burgess and -the noble ceased to come into contact in public life. They no longer -felt the necessity of standing by one another, or of a mutual compact; -every day rendered them more independent of each other, but at the same -time estranged them more and more. In the eighteenth century this -revolution was fully accomplished; the two conditions of men never met -but by accident in private life. Thenceforth the two classes were not -merely rivals but enemies.[37] - -One circumstance which seems very peculiar to France, was that at the -very time when the order of nobility was thus losing its political -powers, the nobles individually acquired several privileges which they -had never possessed before, or increased those which they already -enjoyed. It was as if the members enriched themselves with the spoil -of the body. The nobility had less and less right to command, but -the nobles had more and more the exclusive prerogative of being the -first servants of the master. It was more easy for a man of low birth -to become an officer under Louis XIV. than under Louis XVI.; this -frequently happened in Prussia at a time when there was no example of -such a thing in France. Every one of these privileges once obtained -adhered to the blood and was inseparable from it. The more the French -nobility ceased to be an aristocracy, the more did it become a caste. - -Let us take the most invidious of all these privileges, that of -exemption from taxation.[38] It is easy to perceive that from the -fifteenth century until the French Revolution, this privilege was -continually increasing, and that it increased with the rapid progress -of the public burdens. When, as under Charles VII., only 1,200,000 -livres were raised by the _taille_, the privilege of being exempted -from it was but small; but when, under Louis XVI., eighty millions -were raised by the same tax, the privilege of exemption became very -great. When the _taille_ was the only tax levied on the non-noble -classes, the exemption of the nobility was little felt; but when taxes -of this description were multiplied a thousandfold under various -names and shapes--when four other taxes had been assimilated with -the _taille_--when burdens unknown in the Middle Ages, such as the -application of forced labour by the Crown to all public works or -services, the militia, &c.--had been added to the _taille_ with its -accessories, and were distributed with the same inequality, then indeed -the exemption of birth appeared immense. The inequality, though great, -was indeed still more apparent than real, for the noble was often -reached through his farmer by the tax which he escaped in his own -person; but in such matters as this the inequality which is seen does -more harm than that which is felt. - -Louis XIV., pressed by the financial difficulties which overwhelmed him -towards the end of his reign, had established two common taxes--the -capitation tax and the twentieths; but, as if the exemption from -taxation had been in itself a privilege so venerable that it was -necessary to respect it in the very act by which it was infringed, care -was taken to render the mode of collection different even when the tax -was common. For one class it remained harsh and degrading, for the -other indulgent and honourable.[39] - -Although inequality under taxation prevailed throughout the whole -continent of Europe, there were very few countries in which it had -become so palpable or was so constantly felt as in France. Throughout -a great part of Germany most of the taxes were indirect; and even with -respect to the direct taxes, the privilege of the nobility frequently -consisted only in bearing a smaller share of the common burden.[40] -There were, moreover, certain taxes which fell only upon the nobles, -and which were intended to replace the gratuitous military service -which was no longer exacted. - -Now of all means of distinguishing one man from another and of -marking the difference of classes, inequality of taxation is the most -pernicious and the most calculated to add isolation to inequality, and -in some sort to render both irremediable. Let us look at its effects. -When the noble and the middle classes are not liable to the same tax, -the assessment and collection of each year’s revenue draws afresh -with sharpness and precision the line of demarcation between them. -Every year each member of the privileged order feels an immediate and -pressing interest in not suffering himself to be confounded with the -mass, and makes a fresh effort to place himself apart from it.[41] - -As there is scarcely any matter of public business that does not -either arise out of or result in a tax, it follows that as soon as -the two classes are not equally liable to it, they can no longer have -any reason for common deliberation, or any cause of common wants and -desires; no effort is needed to keep them asunder; the occasion and the -desire for common action have been removed. - -In the highly-coloured description which Mr. Burke gave of the ancient -constitution of France, he urged in favour of the constitution of -the French nobility, the ease with which the middle classes could -be ennobled by acquiring an office: he fancied that this bore some -analogy to the open aristocracy of England. Louis XI. had, it is true, -multiplied the grants of nobility; with him it was a means of lowering -the aristocracy: his successors lavished them in order to obtain -money. Necker informs us, that in his time the number of offices which -conferred nobility amounted to four thousand. Nothing like this existed -in any other part of Europe, but the analogy which Burke sought to -establish between France and England on this score was all the more -false. - -If the middle classes of England, instead of making war upon the -aristocracy, have remained so intimately connected with it, it is not -specially because the aristocracy is open to all, but rather, as has -been said, because its outline is indistinct and its limit unknown--not -so much because any man could be admitted into it as because it was -impossible to say with certainty when he took rank there--so that all -who approached it might look upon themselves as belonging to it, might -take part in its rule, and derive either lustre or profit from its -influence. - -Whereas the barrier which divided the nobility of France from the other -classes, though easily enough passed, was always fixed and visible, -and manifested itself to those who remained without, by striking and -odious tokens. He who had once crossed it was separated from all those -whose ranks he had just quitted by privileges which were burdensome and -humiliating to them. - -The system of creating new nobles, far from lessening the hatred of -the _roturier_ to the nobleman, increased it beyond measure; it was -envenomed by all the envy with which the new noble was looked upon -by his former equals. For this reason the _Tiers-Etat_, in all their -complaints, always displayed more irritation against the newly-ennobled -than against the old nobility; and far from demanding that the gate -which led out of their own condition should be made wider, they -continually required that it should be narrowed. - -At no period of French history had it been so easy to acquire nobility -as in 1789, and never were the middle classes and the nobility so -completely separated. Not only did the nobles refuse to endure, in -their electoral colleges, any one who had the slightest taint of -middle-class blood, but the middle classes also as carefully excluded -all those who might in any degree be looked upon as noble. In some -provinces the newly-ennobled were rejected by one class because they -were not noble enough, and by the other because they were too much so. -This, it is said, was the case with the celebrated Lavoisier. - -If, leaving the nobility out of the question, we turn our attention to -the middle classes, we shall find the same state of things: the man of -the middle classes living almost as far apart from the common people as -the noble was from the middle class. - -Almost the whole of the middle class before the Revolution dwelt in the -towns. Two causes had principally led to this result--the privileges -of the nobles and the _taille_. The Seigneur who lived on his estates -usually treated his peasants with a certain good-natured familiarity, -but his arrogance towards his neighbours of the middle class was -unbounded. It had never ceased to augment as his political power had -diminished, and for that very reason; for on the one hand, as he -had ceased to govern, he no longer had any interest in conciliating -those who could assist him in that task; whilst, on the other, as has -frequently been observed, he tried to console himself for the loss -of real power by an immoderate display of his apparent rights. Even -his absence from his estates, instead of relieving his neighbours, -only served to increase their annoyance. Absenteeism had not even -that good effect, for privileges enforced by proxy were all the more -insupportable. - -I am not sure, however, that the _taille_, and all the taxes which had -been assimilated to it, were not still more powerful causes. - -I could show, I think, in very few words, why the _taille_ and its -accessories pressed much more heavily on the country than on the -towns; but the reader would probably think it superfluous. It will be -sufficient to point out that the middle classes, gathered together in -the towns, could find a thousand means of alleviating the weight of -the _taille_, and often indeed of avoiding it altogether, which not -one of them could have employed singly had he remained on the estate -to which he belonged. Above all, he thereby escaped the obligation of -collecting the _taille_, which he dreaded far more than that of paying -it, and not without reason; for there never was under the old French -Government, or, I believe, under any Government, a worse condition than -that of the parochial collector of the _taille_. I shall have occasion -to show this hereafter. Yet no one in a village except the nobles could -escape this office; and rather than subject himself to it, the rich man -of the middle class let his estates and withdrew to the neighbouring -town. Turgot coincides with all the secret documents which I have had -an opportunity of consulting, when he says, that ‘the collecting of -the _taille_ converts all the non-noble landowners of the country into -burgesses of the towns.’ Indeed this, to make a passing remark, was one -of the chief causes why France was fuller of towns, and especially of -small towns, than almost any other country in Europe. - -Once ensconced within the walls of a town, a wealthy though low-born -member of the middle class soon lost the tastes and ideas of rural -life; he became totally estranged from the labours and the affairs of -those of his own class whom he had left behind. His whole life was now -devoted to one single object: he aspired to become a public officer in -his adopted town. - -It is a great mistake to suppose that the passion for place, which -fills almost all Frenchmen of our time, more especially those belonging -to the middle ranks, has arisen since the Revolution; its birth dates -from several centuries back, and it has constantly increased in -strength, thanks to the variety of fresh food with which it has been -continually supplied. - -Places under the old Government did not always resemble those of our -day, but I believe they were even more numerous; the number of petty -places was almost infinite. It has been reckoned that between the years -1693 and 1790 alone, forty thousand such places were created, almost -all within the reach of the lower middle class. I have counted that, in -1750, in a provincial town of moderate size, no less than one hundred -and nine persons were engaged in the administration of justice, and -one hundred and twenty-six in the execution of the judgments delivered -by them--all inhabitants of the town. The eagerness with which the -townspeople of the middle class sought to obtain these places was -really unparalleled. No sooner had one of them become possessed of a -small capital than, instead of investing it in business, he immediately -laid it out in the purchase of a place. This wretched ambition has done -more harm to the agriculture and the trade of France than the guilds or -even the _taille_. When the supply of places failed, the imagination -of place-hunters instantly fell to work to invent new ones. A certain -Sieur Lemberville published a memorial to prove that it was quite in -accordance with the interest of the public to create inspectors for a -particular branch of manufactures, and he concluded by offering himself -for the employment. Which of us has not known a Lemberville? A man -endowed with some education and small means, thought it not decorous to -die without having been a government officer. ‘Every man according to -his condition,’ says a contemporary writer, ‘wants to be something by -command of the King.’ - -The principal difference in this respect between the time of which I -have been speaking and the present is, that formerly the Government -sold the places; whereas now it gives them away. A man no longer pays -his money in order to purchase a place: he does more, he sells himself. - -Separated from the peasantry by the difference of residence, and still -more by the manner of life, the middle classes were also for the most -part divided from them by interest. The privileges of the nobles with -respect to taxation were justly complained of, but what then can be -said of those enjoyed by the middle class? The offices which exempted -them wholly or in part from public burdens were counted by thousands: -one exempted them from the militia, another from the _corvée_, a third -from the _taille_. ‘Is there a parish,’ says a writer of the time, -‘that does not contain, independently of the nobles and ecclesiastics, -a number of inhabitants who have purchased for themselves, by dint of -places or commissions, some sort of exemption from taxation?’ One of -the reasons why a certain number of offices destined for the middle -classes were, from time to time, abolished is the diminution of the -receipts caused by the exemption of so large a number of persons from -the _taille_. I have no doubt that the number of those exempted among -the middle class was as great as, and often greater than, among the -nobility. - -These miserable privileges filled those who were deprived of them with -envy, and those who enjoyed them with the most selfish pride. Nothing -is more striking throughout the eighteenth century than the hostility -of the citizen of the towns towards the surrounding peasantry, and -the jealousy felt by the peasants of the townspeople. ‘Every single -town,’ says Turgot, ‘absorbed by its own separate interests, is ready -to sacrifice to them the country and the villages of its district.’ -‘You have often been obliged,’ said he, elsewhere, in addressing his -Sub-delegates, ‘to repress the constant tendency to usurpation and -encroachment which characterises the conduct of the towns towards the -country people and the villages of their district.’ - -Even the common people who dwelt within the walls of the towns with the -middle classes became estranged from and almost hostile to them. Most -of the local burdens which they imposed were so contrived as to press -most heavily on the lower classes. More than once I have had occasion -to ascertain the truth of what Turgot also says in another part of his -works, namely, that the middle classes of the towns had found means to -regulate the _octrois_ in such a manner that the burden did not fall on -themselves. - -What is most obvious in every act of the French middle classes, was -their dread of being confounded with the common people, and their -passionate desire to escape by every means in their power from popular -control. ‘If it were his Majesty’s pleasure,’ said the burgesses of a -town, in a memorial addressed to the Comptroller-General, ‘that the -office of mayor should become elective, it would be proper to oblige -the electors to choose him only from the chief notables, and even from -the corporation.’ - -We have seen that it was a part of the policy of the Kings of France -successively to withdraw from the population of the towns the exercise -of their political rights. From Louis XI. to Louis XV. their whole -legislation betrays this intention; frequently the burgesses themselves -seconded that intention, sometimes they suggested it. - -At the time of the municipal reform of 1764, an Intendant consulted -the municipal officers of a small town on the point of preserving -to the artisans and working-classes--_autre menu peuple_--the right -of electing their magistrates. These officers replied that it was -true that ‘the people had never abused this right, and that it would -doubtless be agreeable to preserve to them the consolation of choosing -their own masters; but that it would be still better, in the interest -of good order and the public tranquillity, to make over this duty -altogether to the Assembly of Notables.’ The Sub-delegate reported, -on his side, that he had held a secret meeting, at his own house, of -the ‘six best citizens of the town.’ These six best citizens were -unanimously of opinion that the wisest course would be to entrust -the election, not even to the Assembly of Notables, as the municipal -officers had proposed, but to a certain number of deputies chosen -from the different bodies of which that Assembly was composed. The -Sub-delegate, more favourable to the liberties of the people than these -burgesses themselves, reported their opinion, but added, as his own, -that ‘it was nevertheless very hard upon the working-classes to pay, -without any means of controlling the expenditure of the money, sums -imposed on them by such of their fellow-citizens who were probably, by -reason of the privileged exemptions from taxation, the least interested -in the question.’ - -Let us complete this survey. Let us now consider the middle classes as -distinguished from the people, just as we have previously considered -the nobility as distinguished from the middle classes.[42] We shall -discover in this small portion of the French nation, thus set apart -from the rest, infinite subdivisions. It seems as if the people of -France was like those pretended simple substances in which modern -chemistry perpetually detects new elements by the force of its -analysis. I have discovered not less than thirty-six distinct bodies -among the notables of one small town. These distinct bodies, though -already very diminutive, were constantly employed in reducing each -other to still narrower dimensions. They were perpetually throwing off -the heterogeneous particles they might still contain, so as to reduce -themselves to the most simple elements. Some of them were reduced -by this elaborate process to no more than three or four members, -but their personality only became more intense and their tempers -more contentious. All of them were separated from each other by some -diminutive privileges, the least honourable of which was still a mark -of honour. Between them raged incessant disputes for precedency. -The Intendant, and even the Courts of Justice, were distracted by -their quarrels. ‘It has just been decided that holy-water is to be -offered to the magistrates (_le présidial_) before it is offered to -the corporation. The Parliament hesitated, but the King has called -up the affair to his Council, and decided it himself. It was high -time; this question had thrown the whole town into a ferment.’ If -one of these bodies obtained precedency over another in the general -Assembly of Notables, the latter instantly withdrew, and preferred -abandoning altogether the public business of the community rather than -submit to an outrage on his dignity.--The body of periwig-makers of -the town of La Flèche decided ‘that it would express in this manner -its well-founded grief occasioned by the precedency which had been -granted to the bakers.’ A portion of the notables of another town -obstinately refused to perform their office, because, as the Intendant -reported, ‘some artisans have been introduced into the Assembly, with -whom the principal burgesses cannot bear to associate.’ ‘If the place -of sheriff,’ said the Intendant of another province, ‘be given to a -notary, the other notables will be disgusted, as the notaries are -here men of no birth, not being of the families of the notables, and -all of them having been clerks.’ The ‘six best citizens,’ whom I have -already mentioned, and who so readily decided that the people ought to -be deprived of their political rights, were singularly perplexed when -they had to determine who the notables were to be, and what order of -precedency was to be established amongst them. In such a strait they -presume only to express their doubts, fearing, as they said, ‘to cause -to some of their fellow-citizens too sensible a mortification.’ - -The natural vanity of the French was strengthened and stimulated by the -incessant collision of their pretensions in these small bodies, and the -legitimate pride of the citizens was forgotten. Most of these small -corporations, of which I have been speaking, already existed in the -sixteenth century; but at that time their members, after having settled -among themselves the business of their own fraternity, joined all the -other citizens to transact in common the public business of the city. -In the eighteenth century these bodies were almost entirely wrapped -up in themselves, for the concerns of their municipal life had become -scarce, and they were all managed by delegates. Each of these small -communities, therefore, lived only for itself, was occupied only with -itself, and had no affairs but its own interests. - -Our forefathers had not yet acquired the term of _individuality_, which -we have coined for our own use, because in their times there was no -such thing as an individual not belonging to some group of persons, -and who could consider himself as absolutely alone; but each of the -thousand little groups, of which French society was then composed, -thought only of itself. It was, if I may so express myself, a state of -collective individuality, which prepared the French mind for that state -of positive individuality which is the characteristic of our own time. - -But what is most strange is that all these men, who stood so much -aloof from one another, had become so extremely similar amongst -themselves that if their positions had been changed no distinction -could have been traced among them. Nay more, if any one could have -sounded their innermost convictions, he would have found that the -slight barriers which still divided persons in all other respects so -similar, appeared to themselves alike contrary to the public interest -and to common sense, and that in theory they already worshipped the -uniformity of society and the unity of power. Each of them clung to his -own particular condition, only because a particular condition was the -distinguishing mark of others; but all were ready to confound their own -condition in the same mass, provided no one retained any separate lot -or rose above the common level. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[36] See Note XXX., Self-Government adverse to Spirit of Caste. - -[37] See Note XXXI. - -[38] See Note XXXII., Extent of Exemptions from Taxation. - -[39] See Note XXXIII., Indirect Privileges under Taxation. - -[40] See Notes XXXIV. and XXXV. - -[41] See Note XXXVI., Nobles favoured in Collection of Taxes. - -[42] [The use of the French term _bourgeois_, here and in some other -passages translated ‘middle classes,’ is a further proof of the -estimation of the power once exercised by that class in the community. -In English the corresponding term _burgess_ has remained inseparable -from the exercise of municipal rights; and we have no distinctive -appellation, irrespective of political rights, for the large class -which separates the nobility from the populace. That class is, in fact, -in this country, both socially and politically, _the people_.] - - - - -CHAPTER X. - - THE DESTRUCTION OF POLITICAL LIBERTY AND THE ESTRANGEMENT OF CLASSES - WERE THE CAUSES OF ALMOST ALL THE DISORDERS WHICH LED TO THE - DISSOLUTION OF THE OLD SOCIETY OF FRANCE. - - -Of all the disorders which attacked the constitution of society in -France, as it existed before the Revolution, and led to the dissolution -of that society, that which I have just described was the most fatal. -But I must pursue the inquiry to the source of so dangerous and strange -an evil, and show how many other evils took their origin from the same -cause. - -If the English had, from the period of the Middle Ages, altogether -lost, like the French, political freedom and all those local franchises -which cannot long exist without it, it is highly probable that each -of the different classes of which the English aristocracy is composed -would have seceded from the rest, as was the case in France and more or -less all over the continent, and that all those classes together would -have separated themselves from the people. But freedom compelled them -always to remain within reach of each other, so as to combine their -strength in time of need. - -It is curious to observe how the British aristocracy, urged even by -its own ambition, has contrived, whenever it seemed necessary, to -mix familiarly with its inferiors, and to feign to consider them -as its equals. Arthur Young, whom I have already quoted, and whose -book is one of the most instructive works which exist on the former -state of society in France, relates that, happening to be one day -at the country-house of the Duc de la Rochefoucauld, at La Roche -Guyon, he expressed a wish to converse with some of the best and most -wealthy farmers of the neighbourhood. ‘The Duke had the kindness to -order his steward to give me all the information I wanted relative -to the agriculture of the country, and to speak to such persons as -were necessary on points that he was in doubt about. At an English -nobleman’s house there would have been three or four farmers asked to -meet me, who would have dined with the family among ladies of the first -rank. I do not exaggerate when I say that I have had this at least -an hundred times in the first houses of our islands. It is, however, -a thing that in the present state of manners in France would not be -met with from Calais to Bayonne, except by chance in the house of some -great Lord, who had been much in England, and then not unless it were -asked for. I once knew it at the Duke de Liancourt’s.’[43] - -Unquestionably the English aristocracy is of a haughtier nature than -that of France, and less disposed to mingle familiarly with those who -live in a humbler condition; but the obligations of its own rank have -imposed that duty upon it. It submitted that it might command. For -centuries no inequality of taxation has existed in England, except -such exemptions as have been successively introduced for the relief -of the indigent classes. Observe to what results different political -principles may lead nations so nearly contiguous! In the eighteenth -century, the poor man in England enjoyed the privilege of exemption -from taxation; the rich in France. In one country the aristocracy has -taken upon itself the heaviest public burdens, in order to retain the -government of the State; in the other the aristocracy retained to -the last exemption from taxation as a compensation for the loss of -political power. - -In the fourteenth century the maxim ‘No tax without the consent of the -taxed’--_n’impose qui ne veut_--appeared to be as firmly established in -France as in England. It was frequently quoted; to contravene it always -seemed an act of tyranny; to conform to it was to revert to the law. -At that period, as I have already remarked, a multitude of analogies -may be traced between the political institutions of France and those -of England; but then the destinies of the two nations separated and -constantly became more unlike, as time advanced. They resemble two -lines starting from contiguous points at a slight angle, which diverge -indefinitely as they are prolonged. - -I venture to affirm that when the French nation, exhausted by the -protracted disturbances which had accompanied the captivity of King -John and the madness of Charles VI., suffered the Crown to levy a -general tax without the consent of the people, and when the nobility -had the baseness to allow the middle and lower classes to be so -taxed on condition that its own exemption should be maintained, at -that very time was sown the seed of almost all the vices and almost -all the abuses which afflicted the ancient society of France during -the remainder of its existence, and ended by causing its violent -dissolution; and I admire the rare sagacity of Philippe de Comines -when he says, ‘Charles VII., who gained the point of laying on the -_taille_ at his pleasure, without the consent of the States of the -Realm, laid a heavy burden on his soul and on that of his successors, -and gave a wound to his kingdom which will not soon be closed.’ - -Observe how that wound widened with the course of years; follow step by -step that fact to its consequences. - -Forbonnais says with truth in his learned ‘Researches on the Finances -of France,’ that in the Middle Ages the sovereigns generally lived on -the revenues of their domains; and ‘as the extraordinary wants of the -State,’ he adds, ‘were provided for by extraordinary subsidies, they -were levied equally on the clergy, the nobility, and the people.’ - -The greater part of the general subsidies voted by the three Orders in -the course of the fourteenth century were, in point of fact, so levied. -Almost all the taxes established at that time were _indirect_, that is, -they were paid indiscriminately by all classes of consumers. Sometimes -the tax was direct; but then it was assessed, not on property, but -on income. The nobles, the priests, and the burgesses were bound to -pay over to the King, for a year, a tenth, for instance, of all their -incomes. This remark as to the charges voted by the Estates of the -Realm applies equally to those which were imposed at the same period by -the different Provincial Estates within their own territories.[44] - -It is true that already, at that time, the direct tax known by the name -of the _taille_ was never levied on the noble classes. The obligation -of gratuitous military service was the ground of their exemption; but -the _taille_ was at that time partially in force as a general impost, -belonging rather to the seignorial jurisdictions than to the kingdom. - -When the King first undertook to levy taxes by his own authority, -he perceived that he must select a tax which did not appear to fall -directly on the nobles; for that class, formidable and dangerous to -the monarchy itself, would never have submitted to an innovation so -prejudicial to their own interests. The tax selected by the Crown was, -therefore, a tax from which the nobles were exempt, and that tax was -the _taille_. - -Thus to all the private inequalities of condition which already -existed, another and more general inequality was added, which augmented -and perpetuated all the rest. From that time this tax spread and -ramified in proportion as the demands of the public Treasury increased -with the functions of the central authority; it was soon decupled, and -all the new taxes assumed the character of the _taille_. Every year, -therefore, inequality of taxation separated the classes of society -and isolated the individuals of whom they consisted more deeply than -before. Since the object of taxation was not to include those most able -to pay taxes, but those least able to defend themselves from paying, -the monstrous consequence was brought about that the rich were exempted -and the poor burdened. It is related that Cardinal Mazarin, being -in want of money, hit upon the expedient of levying a tax upon the -principal houses in Paris, but that having encountered some opposition -from the parties concerned, he contented himself with adding the five -millions he required to the general brevet of the _taille_. He meant -to tax the wealthiest of the King’s subjects; he did tax the most -indigent; but to the Treasury the result was the same. - -The produce of taxes thus unjustly allotted had limits; but the demands -of the Crown had none. Yet the Kings of France would neither convoke -the States-General to obtain subsidies, nor would they provoke the -nobility to demand that measure by imposing taxes on them without it. - -Hence arose that prodigious and mischievous fecundity of financial -expedients, which so peculiarly characterised the administration of -the public resources during the last three centuries of the old French -monarchy. - -It is necessary to study the details of the administrative and -financial history of that period, to form a conception of the violent -and unwarrantable proceedings which the want of money may prescribe -even to a mild Government, but without publicity and without control, -when once time has sanctioned its power and delivered it from the dread -of revolution--that last safeguard of nations. - -Every page in these annals tells of possessions of the Crown first sold -and then resumed as unsaleable; of contracts violated and of vested -interests ignored; of sacrifices wrung at every crisis from the public -creditor, and of incessant repudiations of public engagements.[45] - -Privileges granted in perpetuity were perpetually resumed. If we could -bestow our compassion on the disappointments of a foolish vanity, the -fate of those luckless persons might deserve it who purchased letters -of nobility, but who were exposed during the whole of the seventeenth -and eighteenth centuries to buy over and over again the empty honours -or the unjust privileges which they had already paid for several times. -Thus Louis XIV. annulled all the titles of nobility acquired in the -preceding ninety-two years, though most of them had been conferred -by himself; but they could only be retained upon furnishing a fresh -subsidy, _all these titles having been obtained by surprise_, said the -edict. The same example was duly followed by Louis XV. eighty years -later. - -The militia-man was forbidden to procure a substitute, for fear, it was -said, of raising the price of recruits to the State. - -Towns, corporations, and hospitals were compelled to break their own -engagements in order that they might be able to lend money to the -Crown. Parishes were restrained from undertaking works of public -improvement, lest by such a diversion of their resources they should -pay their direct taxes with less punctuality. - -It is related that M. Orry and M. Trudaine, of whom one was the -Comptroller-General and the other the Director-General of Public -Works, had formed a plan for substituting, for the forced labour of -the peasantry on the roads, a rate to be levied on the inhabitants of -each district for the repair of their thoroughfares. The reason which -led these able administrators to forego that plan is instructive: they -feared, it is said, that when a fund had been raised by such a rate -it would be impossible to prevent the Treasury from appropriating the -money to its own purposes, so that ere long the ratepayers would have -had to support both the new money payment and the old charge of forced -labour. I do not hesitate to say that no private person could have -escaped the grasp of the criminal law who should have managed his own -fortune as the Great Louis in all his glory managed the fortune of the -nation. - -If you stumble upon any old establishment of the Middle Ages which -maintained itself with every aggravation of its original defects in -direct opposition to the spirit of the age, or upon any mischievous -innovation, search to the root of the evil--you will find it to be some -financial expedient perpetuated in the form of an institution. To meet -the pressure of the hour new powers were called into being which lasted -for centuries. - -A peculiar tax, which was called the due of _franc-fief_, had been -levied from a distant period on the non-noble holders of noble lands. -This tax established between lands the same distinction which existed -between the classes of society, and the one constantly tended to -increase the other. Perhaps this due of _franc-fief_ contributed more -than any other cause to separate the _roturier_ and the noble, because -it prevented them from mingling together in that which most speedily -and most effectually assimilates men to each other--in the possession -of land. A chasm was thus opened between the noble landowner on the -one hand, and his neighbour, the non-noble landowner, on the other. -Nothing, on the contrary, contributed to hasten the cohesion of these -two classes in England more than the abolition, as early as the -sixteenth century, of all outward distinctions between the fiefs held -under the Crown and lands held in villenage.[46] - -In the fourteenth century this feudal tax of _franc-fief_ was light, -and was only levied here and there; but in the eighteenth century, when -the feudal system was well-nigh abolished, it was rigorously exacted -in France every twenty years, and it amounted to one whole year’s -revenue. A son paid it on succeeding his father. ‘This tax,’ said the -Agricultural Society of Tours in 1761, ‘is extremely injurious to the -improvement of the art of husbandry. Of all the imposts borne by the -King’s subjects there is indisputably none so vexatious and so onerous -to the rural population.’ ‘This duty,’ said another contemporary -writer, ‘which was at first levied but once in a lifetime, is become -in course of time a very cruel burden.’ The nobles themselves would -have been glad that it should be abolished, for it prevented persons of -inferior condition from purchasing their lands; but the fiscal demands -of the State required that it should be maintained and increased.[47] - -The Middle Ages are sometimes erroneously charged with all the evils -arising from the trading or industrial corporations. But at their -origin these guilds and companies served only as means to connect the -members of a given calling with each other, and to establish in each -trade a free government in miniature, whose business it was at once to -assist and to control the working classes. Such, and no more, seems to -have been the intention of St. Louis. - -It was not till the commencement of the sixteenth century, in the midst -of that period which is termed the Revival of Arts and Letters, that it -was proposed for the first time to consider the right to labour in a -particular vocation as a privilege to be sold by the Crown. Then it was -that each Company became a small close aristocracy, and at last those -monopolies were established which were so prejudicial to the progress -of the arts and which so exasperated the last generation. From the -reign of Henry III., who generalised the evil, if he did not give birth -to it, down to Louis XVI., who extirpated it, it may be said that the -abuse of the system of guilds never ceased to augment and to spread at -the very time when the progress of society rendered those institutions -more insupportable, and when the common sense of the public was most -opposed to them. Year after year more professions were deprived of -their freedom; year after year the privileges of the incorporated -trades were increased. Never was the evil carried to greater lengths -than during what are commonly called the prosperous years of the reign -of Louis XIV., because at no former period had the want of money been -more imperious, or the resolution not to raise money with the assent of -the nation more firmly taken. - -Letrone said with truth in 1775--‘The State has only established -the trading companies to furnish pecuniary resources, partly by the -patents which it sells, partly by the creation of new offices which -the Companies are forced to buy up. The Edict of 1673 carried the -principles of Henry III. to their furthest consequences by compelling -all the Companies to take out letters of confirmation upon payment for -the same; and all the workmen who were not yet incorporated in some one -of these bodies were compelled to enter them. This wretched expedient -brought in three hundred thousand livres.’ - -We have already seen how the whole municipal constitution of the towns -was overthrown, not by any political design, but in the hope of picking -up a pittance for the Treasury. This same want of money, combined with -the desire not to seek it from the States-General of the kingdom, gave -rise to the venality of public offices, which became at last a thing -so strange that its like had never been seen in the world. It was by -this institution, engendered by the fiscal spirit of the Government, -that the vanity of the middle classes was kept on the stretch for -three centuries and exclusively directed to the acquisition of public -employments, and thus was the universal passion for places made to -penetrate to the bowels of the nation, where it became the common -source of revolutions and of servitude. - -As the financial embarrassments of the State increased, new offices -sprang up, all of which were remunerated by exemptions from taxation -and by privileges; and as these offices were produced by the wants of -the Treasury, not of the administration, the result was the creation -of an almost incredible number of employments which were altogether -superfluous or mischievous.[48] As early as 1664, upon an inquiry -instituted by Colbert, it was found that the capital invested in this -wretched property amounted to nearly five hundred millions of livres. -Richelieu had suppressed, it was said, a hundred thousand offices: -but they cropped out again under other names.[49] For a little money -the State renounced the right of directing, of controlling, and of -compelling its own agents. An administrative engine was thus gradually -built up so vast, so complicated, so clumsy, and so unproductive, that -it came at last to be left swinging on in space, whilst a more simple -and handy instrument of government was framed beside it, which really -performed the duties these innumerable public officers were supposed to -be doing. - -It is clear that none of these pernicious institutions could have -subsisted for twenty years if they could have been brought under -discussion. None of them would have been established or aggravated if -the Estates had been consulted, or if their remonstrances had been -listened to when by chance they were still called together. Rarely as -the States-General were convoked in the last ages of the monarchy, they -never ceased to protest against these abuses. On several occasions -these assemblies pointed out as the origin of all these evils the power -of arbitrarily levying taxes which had been arrogated by the King, -or, to borrow the identical terms employed by the energetic language -of the fifteenth century, ‘the right of enriching himself from the -substance of the people without the consent and deliberation of the -Three Estates.’ Nor did they confine themselves to their own rights -alone; they demanded with energy, and frequently they obtained, greater -deference to the rights of the provinces and towns. In every session -some voices were raised in those bodies against the inequality of the -public burdens. They frequently demanded the abolition of the system of -close guilds; they attacked with increasing vigour in each successive -age the venality of public employments. ‘He who sells office sells -justice, which is infamous,’ was their language. When that venality was -established, they still complained of the abusive creation of offices. -They denounced so many useless places and dangerous privileges, but -always in vain. Three institutions had been previously established -against themselves; they had originated in the desire not to convoke -these assemblies, and in the necessity of disguising from the French -nation the taxation which it was unsafe to exhibit in its real aspect. - -And it must be observed that the best kings were as prone to have -recourse to these practices as the worst. Louis XII. completed the -introduction of the venality of public offices; Henry IV. extended the -sale of them to reversions. The vices of the system were stronger than -the virtues of those who applied it. - -The same desire of escaping from the control of the States-General -caused the Parliaments to be entrusted with most of their political -functions; the result was an intermixture of judicial and -administrative offices, which proved extremely injurious to the good -conduct of business. It was necessary to seem to afford some new -guarantees in place of those which were taken away; for though the -French support absolute power patiently enough, so long as it be not -oppressive, they never like the sight of it; and it is always prudent -to raise about it some appearance of barriers, which serve at least to -conceal what they do not arrest. - -Lastly, it was this desire of preventing the nation, when asked for its -money, from asking back its freedom, which gave rise to an incessant -watchfulness in separating the classes of society, so that they should -never come together, or combine in a common resistance, and that the -Government should never have on its hands at once more than a very -small number of men separated from the rest of the nation. In the whole -course of this long history, in which have figured so many princes -remarkable for their ability, sometimes remarkable for their genius, -almost always remarkable for their courage, not one of them ever made -an effort to bring together the different classes of his people, or -to unite them otherwise than by subjecting them to a common yoke. One -exception there is, indeed, to this remark: one king of France there -was who not only desired this end, but applied himself with his whole -heart to attain it; that prince--for such are the inscrutable judgments -of Providence--was Louis XVI. - -The separation of classes was the crime of the old French monarchy, -but it became its excuse; for when all those who constitute the rich -and enlightened portion of a nation can no longer agree and co-operate -in the work of government, a country can by no possibility administer -itself, and a master _must_ intervene. - -‘The nation,’ said Turgot, with an air of melancholy, in a secret -report addressed to the King, ‘is a community, consisting of different -orders ill compacted together, and of a people whose members have very -few ties among themselves, so that every man is exclusively engrossed -by his personal interest. Nowhere is any common interest discernible. -The villages, the towns, have not any stronger mutual relations than -the districts to which they belong. They cannot even agree among -themselves to carry on the public works which they require. Amidst this -perpetual conflict of pretensions and of undertakings your Majesty -is compelled to decide everything in person or by your agents. Your -special injunctions are expected before men will contribute to the -public advantage, or respect the rights of others, or even sometimes -before they will exercise their own.’ - -It is no slight enterprise to bring more closely together -fellow-citizens who have thus been living for centuries as strangers -or as enemies to each other, and to teach them how to carry on their -affairs in common. - -To divide them was a far easier task than it then becomes to reunite -them. Such has been the memorable example given by France to the world. -When the different classes which divided the ancient social system -of France came once more into contact sixty years ago, after having -been isolated so long, and by so many barriers, they encountered each -other on those points on which they felt most poignantly, and they -met in mutual hatred. Even in this our day their jealousies and their -animosities have survived them. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[43] See Note XXXVII., Arthur Young’s Tour. - -[44] See Note XXXVIII. - -[45] See Note XXXIX., Violation of Vested and Corporate Rights. - -[46] [This remark must be taken with some qualification as to the fact. -These distinctions are not wholly eradicated at the present day in -England, but they are mere questions of property, not of personal rank -or political influence.] - -[47] See Note XL. - -[48] See Note XLI., Exemptions of Public Officers from Taxation. - -[49] See Note XLII. - - - - -CHAPTER XI. - - OF THE SPECIES OF LIBERTY WHICH EXISTED UNDER THE OLD MONARCHY, AND OF - THE INFLUENCE OF THAT LIBERTY ON THE REVOLUTION. - - -If the reader were here to interrupt the perusal of this book, he -would have but a very imperfect impression of the government of the -old French monarchy, and he would not understand the state of society -produced by the Revolution. - -Since the citizens of France were thus divided and thus contracted -within themselves, since the power of the Crown was so extensive and -so great, it might be inferred that the spirit of independence had -disappeared with public liberty, and that the whole French people were -equally bent in subjection. Such was not the case; the Government -had long conducted absolutely and alone all the common affairs of -the nation; but it was as yet by no means master of every individual -existence. - -Amidst many institutions already prepared for absolute power some -liberty survived; but it was a sort of strange liberty, which it is -not easy at the present day to conceive aright, and which must be very -closely scrutinised to comprehend the good and the evil resulting from -it. - -Whilst the Central Government superseded all local powers, and filled -more and more the whole sphere of public authority, some institutions -which the Government had allowed to subsist, or which it had created, -some old customs, some ancient manners, some abuses even, served to -check its action, to keep alive in the hearts of a large number of -persons a spirit of resistance, and to preserve the consistency and the -independent outline of many characters. - -Centralisation had already the same tendency, the same mode of -operation, the same aims as in our own time, but it had not yet the -same power. Government having, in its eagerness to turn everything -into money, put up to sale most of the public offices, had thus -deprived itself of the power of giving or withdrawing those offices -at pleasure. Thus one of its passions had considerably impaired the -success of another: its rapacity had balanced its ambition. The State -was therefore incessantly reduced to act through instruments which it -had not forged, and which it could not break. The consequence was that -its most absolute will was frequently paralysed in the execution of -it. This strange and vicious constitution of the public offices thus -stood in stead of a sort of political guarantee against the omnipotence -of the central power. It was a sort of irregular and ill-constructed -breakwater, which divided the action and checked the stroke of the -supreme power. - -Nor did the Government of that day dispose as yet of that countless -multitude of favours, assistances, honours, and moneys which it has now -to distribute; it was therefore far less able to seduce as well as to -compel. - -The Government moreover was imperfectly acquainted with the exact -limits of its power.[50] None of its rights were regularly acknowledged -or firmly established; its range of action was already immense, but -that action was still hesitating and uncertain, as one who gropes along -a dark and unknown track. This formidable obscurity, which at that time -concealed the limits of every power and enshrouded every right, though -it might be favourable to the designs of princes against the freedom of -their subjects, was frequently not less favourable to the defence of it. - -The administrative power, conscious of the novelty of its origin -and of its low extraction, was ever timid in its action when any -obstacle crossed its path. It is striking to observe, in reading the -correspondence of the French Ministers and Intendants of the eighteenth -century, how this Government, which was so absolute and so encroaching -as long as its authority is not contested, stood aghast at the aspect -of the least resistance; agitated by the slightest criticism, alarmed -by the slightest noise, ready on all such occasions to stop, to -hesitate, to parley, to treat, and often to fall considerably below -the natural limits of its power. The nerveless egotism of Louis XV., -and the mild benevolence of his successor, contributed to this state -of things. It never occurred to these sovereigns that they could be -dethroned. They had nothing of that harsh and restless temper which -fear has since often imparted to those who govern. They trampled on -none but those whom they did not see. - -Several of the privileges, of the prejudices, of the false notions -most opposed to the establishment of a regular and salutary free -government, kept alive amongst many persons a spirit of independence, -and disposed them to hold their ground against the abuses of authority. - -The Nobles despised the Administration, properly so called, though they -sometimes had occasion to apply to it. Even after they had abandoned -their former power, they retained something of that pride of their -forefathers which was alike adverse to servitude and to law. They cared -little for the general liberty of the community, and readily allowed -the hand of authority to lie heavy on all about them; but they did not -admit that it should lie heavy on themselves, and they were ready in -case of need to run all risks to prevent it. At the commencement of the -Revolution that nobility of France which was about to fall with the -throne, still held towards the King, and still more towards the King’s -agents, an attitude far higher, and language far more free, than the -middle class, which was so soon to overthrow the monarchy. Almost all -the guarantees against the abuse of power which France possessed during -the thirty-seven years of her representative government, were already -loudly demanded by the nobles. In reading the instructions of that -Order to the States-General, amidst its prejudices and its crotchets, -the spirit and some of the great qualities of an aristocracy may still -be felt.[51] It must ever be deplored that, instead of bending that -nobility to the discipline of law, it was uprooted and struck to the -earth. By that act the nation was deprived of a necessary portion -of its substance, and a wound was given to freedom which will never -be healed. A class which has marched for ages in the first rank has -acquired, in this long and uncontested exercise of greatness, a certain -loftiness of heart, a natural confidence in its strength, and a habit -of being looked up to, which makes it the most resisting element in -the frame of society. Not only is its own disposition manly, but its -example serves to augment the manliness of every other class. By -extirpating such an Order its very enemies are enervated. Nothing can -ever completely replace it; it can be born no more; it may recover the -titles and the estates, but not the soul of its progenitors. - -The Clergy, who have since frequently shown themselves so servilely -submissive to the temporal sovereign in civil matters, whosoever -that temporal sovereign might be, and who become his most barefaced -flatterers on the slightest indication of favour to the Church, formed -at that time one of the most independent bodies in the nation, and the -only body whose peculiar liberties would have enforced respect.[52] - -The provinces had lost their franchises; the rights of the towns were -reduced to a shadow. No ten noblemen could meet to deliberate together -on any matter without the express permission of the King. But the -Church of France retained to the last her periodical assemblies. Within -her bosom even ecclesiastical power was circumscribed by limits which -were respected.[53] The lower clergy enjoyed the protection of solid -guarantees against the tyranny of their superiors, and was not prepared -for passive obedience to the Sovereign by the uncontrolled despotism -of the bishop. I do not attempt to pass any judgment on this ancient -constitution of the Church; I merely assert that by this constitution -the spirit of the priesthood was not fashioned to political servility. - -Many of the ecclesiastics were moreover gentlemen of birth, and they -brought with them into the Church the pride and indocility of their -condition. All of them had, moreover, an exalted rank in the State, -and certain privileges there. The exercise of those feudal rights, -which had proved so fatal to the moral power of the Church, gave to its -members, in their individual capacity, a spirit of independence towards -the civil authority. - -But that which especially contributed to give the clergy the opinions, -the wants, the feelings, and often the passions of citizens, was the -ownership of land. I have had the patience to read most of the reports -and debates still remaining to us from the old Provincial Estates -of France, and particularly those of Languedoc, a province in which -the clergy participated even more than elsewhere in the details of -the public administration; I have also examined the journals of the -Provincial Assemblies which sat in 1779 and 1787. Bringing with me in -this inquiry the impressions of our own times, I have been surprised to -find bishops and priests, many of whom were equally eminent for their -piety and for their learning, drawing up reports on the construction -of a road or a canal, discussing with great science and skill the best -methods to augment the produce of agriculture, to ensure the well-being -of the inhabitants, and to encourage industry, these churchmen being -always equal, and often superior, to all the laymen engaged with them -in the transaction of the same affairs. - -I maintain, in opposition to an opinion which is very generally and -very firmly established, that the nations which deprive the Roman -Catholic clergy of all participation in landed property, and convert -their incomes into salaries, do in fact only promote the interests of -the Papacy, and those of the temporal Ruler, whilst they renounce an -important element of freedom amongst themselves. - -A man who, as far as the best portion of his nature is concerned, is -the subject of a foreign authority, and who in the country where he -dwells can have no family, will only be linked to the soil by one -durable tie--namely, landed property. Break that bond, and he belongs -to no place in particular. In the place where the accident of birth -may have cast him, he lives like an alien in the midst of a civil -community, scarcely any of whose civil interests can directly affect -him. His conscience binds him to the Pope; his maintenance to the -Sovereign. His only country is the Church. In every political event -he perceives little more than the advantage or the loss of his own -profession. Let but the Church be free and prosperous, what matters all -the rest? His most natural political state is that of indifference--an -excellent member of the Christian commonwealth, but elsewhere a -worthless citizen. Such sentiments and such opinions as these in a -body of men who are the directors of childhood, and the guardians of -morality, cannot fail to enervate the soul of the entire nation in -relation to public life. - -A correct impression of the revolution which may be effected in the -human mind by a change wrought in social conditions, may be obtained -from a perusal of the Instructions given to the Delegates of the Clergy -at the States-General of 1789.[54] - -The clergy in those documents frequently showed their intolerance, -and sometimes a tenacious attachment to several of their former -privileges; but, in other respects, not less hostile to despotism, -not less favourable to civil liberty, not less enamoured of political -liberty, than the middle classes or the nobility, this Order proclaimed -that personal liberty must be secured, not by promises alone, but by -a form of procedure analogous to the Habeas Corpus Act. They demanded -the destruction of the State prisons, the abolition of extraordinary -jurisdictions and of the practice of calling up causes to the Council -of State, publicity of procedure, the permanence of judicial officers, -the admissibility of all ranks to public employments, which should be -open to merit alone; a system of military recruiting less oppressive -and humiliating to the people, and from which none should be exempted; -the extinction by purchase of seignorial rights, which sprung from -the feudal system were, they said, contrary to freedom; unrestricted -freedom of labour; the suppression of internal custom-houses; the -multiplication of private schools, insomuch that one gratuitous school -should exist in every parish; lay charitable institutions in all the -rural districts, such as workhouses and workshops of charity; and every -kind of encouragement to agriculture. - -In the sphere of politics, properly so called, the clergy proclaimed, -louder than any other class, that the nation had an indefeasible and -inalienable right to assemble to enact laws and to vote taxes. No -Frenchman, said the priests of that day, can be forced to pay a tax -which he has not voted in person or by his representative. The clergy -further demanded that States-General freely elected should annually -assemble; that they should in presence of the nation discuss all its -chief affairs; that they should make general laws paramount to all -usages or particular privileges; that the deputies should be inviolable -and the ministers of the Crown constantly responsible. The clergy -also desired that assemblies of States should be created in all the -provinces, and municipal corporations in all the towns. Of divine right -not a word. - -Upon the whole, and notwithstanding the notorious vices of some of -its members, I question if there ever existed in the world a clergy -more remarkable than the Catholic clergy of France at the moment when -it was overtaken by the Revolution--a clergy more enlightened, more -national, less circumscribed within the bounds of private duty and -more alive to public obligations, and at the same time more zealous -for the faith:--persecution proved it. I entered on the study of -these forgotten institutions full of prejudices against the clergy of -that day: I conclude that study full of respect for them. They had in -truth no defects but those inherent in all corporate bodies, whether -political or religious, when they are strongly constituted and knit -together; such as a tendency to aggression, a certain intolerance of -disposition, and an instinctive--sometimes a blind--attachment to the -particular rights of their Order. - -The Middle Classes of the time preceding the Revolution were also much -better prepared than those of the present day to show a spirit of -independence. Many even of the defects of their social constitution -contributed to this result. We have already seen that the public -employments occupied by these classes were even more numerous than -at present, and that the passion for obtaining these situations was -equally intense. But mark the difference of the age. Most of those -places being neither given nor taken away by the Government, increased -the importance of those who filled them without placing them at the -mercy of the ruler; hence, the very cause which now completes the -subjection of so many persons was precisely that which most powerfully -enabled them at that time to maintain their independence. - -The immunities of all kinds which so unhappily separated the middle -from the lower classes, converted the former into a spurious -aristocracy, which often displayed the pride and the spirit of -resistance of the real aristocracy. In each of those small particular -associations which divided the middle classes into so many sections, -the general advantage was readily overlooked, but the interests and -the rights of each body were always kept in view. The common dignity, -the common privileges were to be defended.[55] No man could ever lose -himself in the crowd, or find a hiding-place for base subserviency. -Every man stood, as it were, on a stage, extremely contracted it is -true, but in a glare of light, and there he found himself in presence -of the same audience, ever ready to applaud or to condemn him. - -The art of stifling every murmur of resistance was at that time far -less perfected than it is at present. France had not yet become that -dumb region in which we dwell: every sound on the contrary had an echo, -though political liberty was still unknown, and every voice that was -raised might be heard afar. - -That which more especially in those times ensured to the oppressed the -means of being heard was the constitution of the Courts of Justice. -France had become a land of absolute government by her political -and administrative institutions, but her people were still free by -her institutions of justice. The judicial administration of the old -monarchy was complicated, troublesome, tedious, and expensive: these -were no doubt great faults, but servility towards the Government was -not to be met with there--that servility which is but another form -of venality, and the worst form. That capital vice, which not only -corrupts the judge, but soon infects the whole body of the people, was -altogether unknown to the elder magistracy. The judges could not be -removed, and they sought no promotion--two things alike necessary to -their independence; for what matters it that a judge cannot be coerced -if there are a thousand means of seduction? - -It is true that the power of the Crown had succeeded in depriving the -Courts of ordinary jurisdiction of the cognisance of almost all the -suits in which the public authorities were interested; but though -they had been stripped, they still were feared. Though they might be -prevented from recording their judgments, the Government did not always -dare to prevent them from receiving complaints or from recording their -opinions; and as the language of the Courts still preserved the tone of -that old language of France which loved to call things by their right -names, the magistrates not unfrequently stigmatised the acts of the -Government as arbitrary and despotic.[56] The irregular intervention -of the Courts in the affairs of government, which often disturbed the -conduct of them, thus served occasionally to protect the liberties of -the subject. The evil was great, but it served to curb a greater evil. - -In these judicial bodies and all around them the vigour of the ancient -manners of the nation was preserved in the midst of modern opinions. -The Parliaments of France doubtless thought more of themselves than -of the commonwealth; but it must be acknowledged that, in defence of -their own independence and honour, they always bore themselves with -intrepidity, and that they imparted their spirit to all that came near -them. - -When in 1770 the Parliament of Paris was broken, the magistrates who -belonged to it submitted to the loss of their profession and their -power without a single instance of any individual yielding to the will -of the sovereign. Nay, more, some Courts of a different kind, such as -the Court of Aids, which were neither affected nor menaced, voluntarily -exposed themselves to the same harsh treatment, when that treatment had -become certain. Nor is this all: the leading advocates who practised -before the Parliament resolved of their own accord to share its -fortune; they renounced all that made their glory and their wealth, and -condemned themselves to silence rather than appear before dishonoured -judges. I know of nothing in the history of free nations grander than -what occurred on this occasion, and yet this happened in the eighteenth -century, hard by the court of Louis XV. - -The habits of the French Courts of justice had become in many respects -the habits of the nation. The Courts of justice had given birth to the -notion that every question was open to discussion and every decision -subject to appeal, and likewise to the use of publicity, and to a taste -for forms of proceeding--things adverse to servitude: this was the -only part of the education of a free people which the institutions of -the old monarchy had given to France. The administration itself had -borrowed largely from the language and the practice of the Courts. -The King considered himself obliged to assign motives for his edicts, -and to state his reasons before he drew the conclusion; the Council -of State caused its orders to be preceded by long preambles; the -Intendants promulgated their ordinances in the forms of judicial -procedure. In all the administrative bodies of any antiquity, such, -for example, as the body of the Treasurers of France or that of the -_élus_ (who assessed the _taille_), the cases were publicly debated -and decided after argument at the bar. All these usages, all these -formalities, were so many barriers to the arbitrary power of the -sovereign. - -The people alone, applying that term to the lower orders of society, -and especially the people of the rural districts, were almost always -unable to offer any resistance to oppression except by violence. - -Most of the means of defence which I have here passed in review were, -in fact, beyond their reach; to employ those means, a place in society -where they could be seen, or a voice loud enough to make itself heard, -was requisite; But above the ranks of the lower orders there was not -a man in France who, if he had the courage, might not contest his -obedience and resist in giving way. - -The King spoke as the chief of the nation rather than as its master. -‘We glory,’ said Louis XVI., at his accession, in the preamble of a -decree, ‘we glory to command a free and generous nation.’ One of his -ancestors had already expressed the same idea in older language, when, -thanking the States-General for the boldness of their remonstrances, he -said, ‘We like better to speak to freemen than to serfs.’ - -The men of the eighteenth century knew little of that sort of passion -for comfort which is the mother of servitude--a relaxing passion, -though it be tenacious and unalterable, which mingles and intertwines -itself with many private virtues, such as domestic affections, -regularity of life, respect for religion, and even with the lukewarm, -though assiduous, practice of public worship, which favours propriety -but proscribes heroism, and excels in making decent livers but base -citizens. The men of the eighteenth century were better and they were -worse. - -The French of that age were addicted to joy and passionately fond -of amusement; they were perhaps more lax in their habits, and more -vehement in their passions and opinions than those of the present day, -but they were strangers to the temperate and decorous sensualism that -we see about us. In the upper classes men thought more of adorning life -than of rendering it comfortable; they sought to be illustrious rather -than to be rich. Even in the middle ranks the pursuit of comfort never -absorbed every faculty of the mind; that pursuit was often abandoned -for higher and more refined enjoyments; every man placed some object -beyond the love of money before his eyes. ‘I know my countrymen,’ -said a contemporary writer, in language which, though eccentric, is -spirited, ‘apt to melt and dissipate the metals, they are not prone -to pay them habitual reverence, and they will not be slow to turn -again to their former idols, to valour, to glory, and, I will add, to -magnanimity.’ - -The baseness of mankind is, moreover, not to be estimated by the degree -of their subserviency to a sovereign power; that standard would be -an incorrect one. However submissive the French may have been before -the Revolution to the will of the King, one sort of obedience was -altogether unknown to them: they knew not what it was to bow before -an illegitimate and contested power--a power but little honoured, -frequently despised, but which is willingly endured because it may be -serviceable or because it may hurt. To this degrading form of servitude -they were ever strangers. The King inspired them with feelings which -none of the most absolute princes who have since appeared in the world -have been able to call forth, and which are become incomprehensible to -the present generation, so entirely has the Revolution extirpated them -from the hearts of the nation. They loved him with the affection due to -a father; they revered him with the respect due to God. In submitting -to the most arbitrary of his commands they yielded less to compulsion -than to loyalty, and thus they frequently preserved great freedom of -mind even in the most complete dependence. To them the greatest evil -of obedience was compulsion; to us it is the least: the worst is in -that servile sentiment which leads men to obey. We have no right to -despise our forefathers. Would to God that we could recover, with their -prejudices and their faults, something of their greatness! - -It would then be a mistake to think that the state of society in France -before the Revolution was one of servility and dependence.[57] Much -more liberty existed in that society than in our own time; but it was a -species of irregular and intermittent liberty, always contracted within -the bounds of certain classes, linked to the notion of exemption and of -privilege, which rendered it almost as easy to defy the law as to defy -arbitrary power, and scarcely ever went far enough to furnish to all -classes of the community the most natural and necessary securities.[58] -Thus reduced, and thus deformed, liberty was still not unfruitful. -It was this liberty which, at the very time when centralisation was -tending more and more to equalise, to emasculate, and to dim the -character of the nation, still preserved amongst a large class of -private persons their native vigour, their colour, and their outline, -fostered self-respect in the heart, and often caused the love of glory -to predominate over every other taste. By this liberty were formed -those vigorous characters, those proud and daring spirits which were -about to appear, and were to make the French Revolution at once the -object of the admiration and the terror of succeeding generations. It -would have been so strange that virtues so masculine should have grown -on a soil where freedom was no more. - -But if this sort of ill-regulated and morbid liberty prepared the -French to overflow despotism, perhaps it likewise rendered them less -fit than any other people to establish in lieu of that despotism the -free and peaceful empire of constitutional law. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[50] See Note XLIII. - -[51] See Note XLIV., Instructions of the Order of Nobility at the -States-General of 1789. - -[52] See Note XLV., Religious Administration of an Ecclesiastical -Province in the Eighteenth Century. - -[53] See Note XLVI., Spirit of the Clergy. - -[54] See Note XLVII. - -[55] See Note XLVIII. - -[56] See Note XLIX., Example of the Language of the Courts of Justice. - -[57] See Note L. - -[58] See Note LI., Of the Reasons which frequently put a restraint on -Absolute Government under the Monarchy. - - - - -CHAPTER XII. - - SHOWING THAT THE CONDITION OF THE FRENCH PEASANTRY, NOTWITHSTANDING - THE PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION, WAS SOMETIMES WORSE IN THE EIGHTEENTH - CENTURY THAN IT HAD BEEN IN THE THIRTEENTH. - - -In the eighteenth century the French peasantry could no longer be -preyed upon by petty feudal despots; they were seldom the object of -violence on the part of the Government; they enjoyed civil liberty, -and were owners of a portion of the soil; but all the other classes of -society stood aloof from this class, and perhaps in no other part of -the world had the peasantry ever lived so entirely alone. The effects -of this novel and singular kind of oppression deserve a very attentive -separate consideration. - -As early as the beginning of the seventeenth century, Henry IV. -complained, as we learn from Péréfix, that the nobles were quitting the -rural districts. In the middle of the eighteenth century this desertion -had become almost general; all the records of the time indicate and -deplore the fact, economists in their writings, the Intendants in -their reports, agricultural societies in their proceedings. A more -authentic proof of the same fact is to be found in the registers of the -capitation tax. The capitation tax was levied at the actual place of -residence, and it was paid by the whole of the great nobility and by a -portion of the landed gentry at Paris. - -In the rural districts none remained but such of the gentry as their -limited means compelled to stay there. These persons must have found -themselves placed in a position with reference to the peasants, his -neighbours, such as no rich proprietor can be conceived to have -occupied before.[59] Being no longer in the position of a chief, they -had not the same interest as of old to attend to, or assist, or direct -the village population; and, on the other hand, not being subject to -the same burdens, they could neither feel much sympathy with poverty -which they did not share, nor with grievances to which they were not -exposed. The peasantry were no longer the subjects of the gentry; the -gentry were not yet the fellow-citizens of the peasantry--a state of -things unparalleled in history. - -This gave rise to a sort of absenteeism of feeling, if I may so express -myself, even more frequent and more effectual than absenteeism properly -so called. Hence it arose that a gentleman residing on his estate -frequently displayed the views and sentiments which his steward would -have entertained in his absence; like his steward, he learned to look -upon his tenants as his debtors, and he rigorously exacted from them -all that he could claim by law or by custom, which sometimes rendered -the application of the last remnant of feudal rights more harsh than it -had been in the feudal times. - -Often embarrassed, and always needy, the small gentry lived shabbily -in their country-houses, caring only to amass money enough to spend in -town during the winter. The people, who often find an expression which -hits the truth, had given to these small squires the name of the least -of the birds of prey, a _hobereau_, a sort of Squire Kite. - -No doubt individual exceptions might be presented to these -observations: I speak of classes, which ought alone to detain the -attention of history. That there were in those times many rich -landowners who, without any necessary occasion and without a common -interest, attended to the welfare of the peasantry, who will deny? But -these were persons who struggled successfully against the law of their -new condition, which, in spite of themselves, was driving them into -indifference, as it was driving their former vassals into hatred. - -This abandonment of a country life by the nobility has often been -attributed to the peculiar influence of certain ministers and certain -kings--by some to Richelieu, by others to Louis XIV. It was, no doubt, -an idea almost always pursued by the Kings of France, during the three -last centuries of the monarchy, to separate the gentry from the people, -and to attract the former to Court and to public employments. This was -especially the case in the seventeenth century, when the nobility were -still an object of fear to royalty. Amongst the questions addressed -to the Intendants, they were sometimes asked--‘Do the gentry of your -province like to stay at home, or to go abroad?’ - -A letter from an Intendant has been found giving his answer on this -subject: he laments that the gentry of his province like to remain with -their peasants, instead of fulfilling their duties about the King. -And let it here be well remarked, that the province of which this -Intendant was speaking was Anjou--that province which was afterwards -La Vendée. These country gentlemen who refused, as he said, to fulfil -their duties about the King, were the only country gentlemen who -defended with arms in their hands the monarchy in France, and died -there fighting for the Crown; they owed this glorious distinction -simply to the fact that they had found means to retain their hold over -the peasantry--that peasantry with whom they were blamed for wishing to -live. - -Nevertheless the abandonment of the country by the class which then -formed the head of the French nation must not be mainly attributed to -the direct influence of some of the French kings. The principal and -permanent cause of this fact lay not so much in the will of certain men -as in the slow and incessant influence of institutions; and the proof -is, that when, in the eighteenth century, the Government endeavoured -to combat this evil, it could not even check the progress of it. In -proportion as the nobility completely lost its political rights without -acquiring others, and as local freedom disappeared, this emigration -of the nobles increased. It became unnecessary to entice them from -their homes; they cared not to remain there. Rural life had become -distasteful to them. - -What I here say of the nobles applies in all countries to rich -landowners. In all centralised countries the rural districts lose -their wealthy and enlightened inhabitants. I might add that in all -centralised countries the art of cultivation remains imperfect and -unimproved--a commentary on the profound remark of Montesquieu, which -determines his meaning, when he says that ‘land produces less by reason -of its own fertility than of the freedom of its inhabitants.’ But I -will not transgress the limits of my subject. - -We have seen elsewhere that the middle classes, equally ready to quit -the rural districts, sought refuge from all sides in the towns. On no -point are all the records of French society anterior to the Revolution -more agreed. They show that a second generation of rich peasants was a -thing almost unknown. No sooner had a farmer made a little money by his -industry than he took his son from the plough, sent him to the town, -and bought him a small appointment. From that period may be dated the -sort of strange aversion which the French husbandman often displays, -even in our own times, for the calling which has enriched him. The -effect has survived the cause. - -To say the truth, the only man of education--or, as he would be called -in England, the only _gentleman_--who permanently resided amongst the -peasantry and in constant intercourse with them, was the parish priest. -The result was that the priest would have become the master of the -rural populations, in spite of Voltaire, if he had not been himself -so nearly and ostensibly linked to the political order of things; the -possession of several political privileges exposed him in some degree -to the hatred inspired by those political institutions.[60] - -The peasant was thus almost entirely separated from the upper -classes; he was removed from those of his fellow-creatures who might -have assisted and directed him. In proportion as they attained to -enlightenment or competency, they turned their backs on him; he stood, -as it were, tabooed and set apart in the midst of the nation. - -This state of things did not exist in an equal degree amongst any -of the other civilized nations of Europe, and even in France it was -comparatively recent. The peasantry of the fourteenth century were -at once more oppressed and more relieved. The aristocracy sometimes -tyrannised over them, but never forsook them. - -In the eighteenth century, a French village was a community of persons, -all of whom were poor, ignorant, and coarse; its magistrates were as -rude and as contemned as the people; its syndic could not read; its -collector could not record in his own handwriting the accounts on which -the income of his neighbours and his own depended. Not only had the -former lord of the manor lost the right of governing this community, -but he had brought himself to consider it a sort of degradation to -take any part in the government of it. To assess the _taille_, to call -out the militia, to regulate the forced labour, were servile offices, -devolving on the syndic. The central power of the State alone took any -care of the matter, and as that power was very remote, and had as yet -nothing to fear from the inhabitants of the villages, the only care it -took of them was to extract revenue. - -Let me show you what a forsaken class of society becomes which no one -desires to oppress, but which no one attempts to enlighten or to serve. - -The heaviest burdens which the feudal system had imposed on the rural -population had without doubt been withdrawn and mitigated; but it -is not sufficiently known that for these burdens others had been -substituted, perhaps more onerous. The peasant had not to endure all -the evils endured by his forefathers, but he supported many hardships -which his forefathers had never known. - -The _taille_ had been decupled, almost exclusively at the cost of the -peasantry, in the preceding two centuries. And here a word must be said -of the manner in which this tax was levied, to show what barbarous -laws may be founded and maintained in civilised ages, when the most -enlightened men in the nation have no personal interest in changing -them. - -I find in a confidential letter, written by the Comptroller-General -himself, in 1772, to the Intendants, a description of this tax, which -is a model of brevity and accuracy. ‘The _taille_,’ said that minister, -‘arbitrarily assessed, collectively levied as a personal, not a real, -tax in the great part of France, is subject to continual variations -from all the changes which happen every year in the fortunes of the -taxpayers.’ The whole is in these three phrases. It is impossible to -depict more ably the evil by which the writer profited. - -The whole sum to be paid by each parish was fixed every three years. -It perpetually varied, as the minister says, so that no farmer could -foresee a year beforehand what he would have to pay in the year -following. In the internal economy of each parish any one of the -peasants named by the collector was entrusted with the apportionment of -the tax on the rest. - -I have said I would explain what was the condition of this collector. -Let us take this explanation in the language of the Assembly of the -Province of Berri in 1779, a body not liable to suspicion, for it was -entirely composed of privileged persons, who paid no _taille_, and -were chosen by the King. ‘As every one seeks to evade this office of -collector,’ said this Assembly, ‘each person must fill it in turn. -The levy of the _taille_ is therefore entrusted every year to a -fresh collector, without regard to his ability or his integrity; the -preparation of each roll of assessment bears marks, therefore, of the -personal character of the officer who makes it. The collector stamps -on it his own fears, or foibles, or vices. How, indeed, could he do -better? He is acting in darkness, for who can tell with precision the -wealth of his neighbour or the proportion of his wealth to that of -another? Nevertheless the opinion of the collector alone is to decide -these points, and he is responsible with all his property and even his -person for the receipts. He is commonly obliged for two whole years to -lose half his days in running after the taxpayers. Those who cannot -read are obliged to find a neighbour to perform the office for them.’ - -Turgot had already said of another province, a short time before, ‘This -office of collector drives to despair, and generally to ruin, those -on whom it is imposed; by this means all the wealthier families of a -village are successively reduced to poverty.’ - -This unhappy officer was, however, armed with the most arbitrary -powers;[61] he was almost as much a tyrant as a martyr. Whilst he -was discharging functions by which he ruined himself, he had it in -his power to ruin everybody else. ‘Preference for his relations,’ to -recur to the language of the Provincial Assembly, ‘or for his friends -and neighbours, hatred and revenge against his enemies, the want of a -patron, the fear of affronting a man of property who had work to give, -were at issue with every feeling of justice.’ Personal fear often -hardened the heart of the collector; there were parishes in which he -never went out but escorted by constables and bailiffs. ‘When he comes -without the constable,’ said an Intendant to a Minister, in 1764, -‘the persons liable to the tax will not pay.’ ‘In the district of -Villefranche alone,’ says the Provincial Assembly of Guienne, ‘there -were one hundred and six officers constantly out to serve writs and -levy distraints.’ - -To evade this violent and arbitrary taxation the French peasantry, in -the midst of the eighteenth century, acted like the Jews in the Middle -Ages. They were ostensibly paupers, even when by chance they were not -so in reality. They were afraid to be well off; and not without reason, -as may be seen from a document which I select, not from Guienne, but a -hundred leagues off. The Agricultural Society of Maine announced in its -Report of 1761, that it proposed to distribute cattle by way of prizes -and encouragements. ‘This plan was stopped,’ it adds, ‘on account of -the dangerous consequences to be apprehended by a low jealousy of the -winners of these prizes, which, by means of the arbitrary assessment of -the public taxes, would occasion them annoyance in the following year.’ - -Under this system of taxation each tax-payer had, in fact, a direct and -permanent interest to act as a spy on his neighbours, and to denounce -to the collector the progress of their fortunes. The whole population -was thus trained to delation and to hatred. Were not such things rather -to be expected in the domains of a rajah of Hindostan? - -There were, however, at the same time in France certain districts in -which the taxes were raised with regularity and moderation; these -were called the _pays d’état_.[62] It is true that to these districts -the right of levying their own taxes had been left. In Languedoc, -for example, the _taille_ was assessed on real property, and did -not vary according to the means of the holder. Its fixed and known -basis was a survey which had been carefully made, and was renewed -every thirty years, and in which the lands were divided, according to -their fertility, into three classes. Every taxpayer knew beforehand -exactly what his proportion of the charge amounted to. If he failed -to pay, he alone, or rather his land alone, was liable. If he thought -the assessment unjust, he might always require that his share should -be compared with that of any other inhabitant of the parish, on the -principle of what is now termed in France an appeal to proportionate -equality. - -These regulations are precisely those which are now followed in France; -they have not been improved since that time, but they have been -generalised: for it deserves observation, that although the form of -the public administration in France has been taken from the Government -anterior to the Revolution, nothing else has been copied from that -Government. The best of the administrative forms of proceeding in -modern France have been borrowed from the old Provincial Assemblies, -and not from the Government. The machine was adopted, but its produce -rejected. - -The habitual poverty of the rural population had given birth to maxims -little calculated to put an end to it. ‘If nations were well off,’ said -Richelieu, in his Political Testament, ‘hardly would they keep within -the rules.’ In the eighteenth century this maxim was modified, but -it was still believed that the peasantry would not work without the -constant stimulus of necessity, and that want was the only security -against idleness. That is precisely the theory which is sometimes -professed with reference to the negro population of the colonies. It -was an opinion so generally diffused amongst those who governed that -almost all the economists thought themselves obliged to combat it at -length. - -The primary object of the _taille_ was to enable the King to purchase -recruits so as to dispense the nobles and their vassals from military -service; but in the seventeenth century the obligation of military -service was again imposed, as we have seen, under the name of the -militia, and henceforth it weighed upon the common people only, and -almost exclusively on the peasantry. - -The infinite number of police reports from the constables, which are -still to be found amongst the records of any intendancy, all relating -to the pursuit of refractory militia-men or deserters, suffice to prove -that this force was not raised without obstacles. It seems, indeed, -that no public burden was more insupportable to the peasantry than -this: to evade it they frequently fled into the woods, where they were -pursued by the armed authorities. This is the more singular, when we -see the facility with which the conscription works in France in the -present times. - -This extreme repugnance of the peasantry of France before the -Revolution to the militia was attributable less to the principle of the -law than to the manner in which the law was executed; more especially -from the long period of uncertainty, during which it threatened those -liable to be drawn (they could be taken until forty years of age, -unless they were married)--from the arbitrary power of revision, which -rendered the advantage of a lucky number almost useless--from the -prohibition to hire a substitute--from disgust at a hard and perilous -profession, in which all hope of advancement was forbidden; but, above -all, from the feeling that this oppressive burden rested on themselves -alone, and on the most wretched amongst themselves, the ignominy of -this condition rendering its hardships more intolerable. - -I have had means of referring to many of the returns of the draft for -the militia, as it was made in 1769 in a large number of parishes. In -all these returns there are some exemptions: this man is a gentleman’s -servant; that, the gamekeeper of an abbey; a third is only the -valet of a man of inferior birth, but who, at least, ‘lives like a -nobleman.’ Wealth alone afforded an exemption; when a farmer annually -figured amongst those who paid the largest sum in taxes, his sons -were dispensed from the militia; that was called encouragement of -agriculture. Even the economists, who, in all other points, were great -partisans of social equality, were not shocked by this privilege; they -only suggested that it should be extended, or, in other words, that the -burden of the poorest and most friendless of the peasants should become -more severe. ‘The low pay of the soldier,’ said one of these writers, -‘the manner in which he is lodged, dressed, and fed, and his entire -state of dependence, would render it too cruel to take any but a man of -the lowest orders.’ - -Down to the close of the reign of Louis XIV. the high roads were not -repaired, or were repaired at the cost of those who used them, namely, -the State and the adjacent landowners. But about that time the roads -began to be repaired by forced labour only, that is to say, exclusively -at the expense of the peasantry.[63] This expedient for making roads -without paying for them was thought so ingenious, that in 1737 a -circular of the Comptroller-General Orry established it throughout -France. The Intendants were armed with the right of imprisoning the -refractory at pleasure, or of sending constables after them.[64] - -From that time, whenever trade augmented, so that more roads were -wanted or desired, the _corvée_ or forced labour extended to new lines, -and had more work to do. It appears from the Report made in 1779 to -the Provincial Assembly of Berri, that the works executed by forced -labour in that poor province were estimated in one year at 700,000 -livres. In 1787 they were computed at about the same sum in Lower -Normandy. Nothing can better demonstrate the melancholy fate of the -rural population; the progress of society, which enriched all the other -classes, drove them to despair, and civilisation itself turned against -that class alone. - -I find about the same time, in the correspondence of the Intendants, -that leave was to be refused to the peasants to do their forced labour -on the private roads of their own villages, since this labour was to be -reserved to the great high roads only, or, as they were then called, -‘the King’s highway.’ The strange notion that the cost of the roads -was to be defrayed by the poorest persons, and by those who were the -least likely to travel by them, though of recent date, took such root -in the minds of those who were to profit by it, that they soon imagined -that the thing could not be done differently.[65] In 1766 an attempt -was made to commute this forced labour into a local rate, but the same -inequality survived, and affected this new species of tax. - -Though originally a seignorial right, the system of forced labour, by -becoming a royal right, was gradually extended to almost all public -works. In 1719 I find it was employed to build barracks. ‘Parishes are -to send their best workmen,’ said the Ordinance, ‘and all other works -are to give way to this.’ The same forced service was used to escort -convicts to the galleys and beggars to the workhouse;[66] it had to -cart the baggage of troops as often as they changed their quarters, -a burden which was very onerous at a time when each regiment carried -heavy baggage after it. Many carts and oxen had to be collected for the -purpose.[67] This sort of obligation, which signified little at its -origin, became one of the most burdensome when standing armies grew -more numerous. Sometimes the Government contractors loudly demanded the -assistance of forced labour to convey timber from the forests to the -naval arsenals. These peasants commonly received certain wages, but -they were arbitrarily fixed and low.[68] The burden of an impost so -ill-assessed sometimes became so heavy as to excite the uneasiness of -the receivers of the _taille_. ‘The outlay required of the peasants -on the roads,’ said one of these officers in 1751, ‘is such, that they -will soon be quite unable to pay the _taille_.’ - -Could all these new oppressions have been established if there had been -in the vicinity of these peasants any men of wealth and education, -disposed and able, if not to defend them, at least to intercede for -them, with that common master who already held in his grasp the -fortunes of the poor and of the rich? - -I have read a letter of a great landowner, writing in 1774 to the -Intendant of his province, to induce him to open a road. This road, -he said, would cause the prosperity of the village, and for several -reasons; he then went on to recommend the establishment of a fair, -which would double, he thought, the price of produce. With excellent -motives, he added that with the assistance of a small contribution a -school might be established, which would furnish the King with more -industrious subjects. It was the first time that these necessary -ameliorations had occurred to him; he had only thought of them in -the preceding two years, which he had been compelled by a _lettre de -cachet_ to spend in his own house. ‘My exile for the last two years in -my estates,’ he candidly observed, ‘has convinced me of the extreme -utility of these things.’ - -It was more especially in times of scarcity that the relaxation or -total interruption of the ties of patronage and dependence, which -formerly connected the great rural proprietors and the peasantry, was -manifest. At such critical times the Central Government, alarmed by its -own isolation and weakness, sought to revive for the nonce the personal -influences or the political associations which the Government itself -had destroyed; they were summoned to its aid, but they were summoned -in vain, and the State was astonished to find that those persons were -defunct whom it had itself deprived of life. - -In this extremity some of the Intendants--Turgot, for instance--in -the poorest provinces, issued illegal ordinances to compel the rich -landowners to feed their tenants till the next harvest. I have found, -under the date of 1770, letters from several parish priests, who -propose to the Intendants to tax the great landowners, both clerical -and lay, ‘who possess vast estates which they do not inhabit, and from -which they draw large revenues to be spent elsewhere.’ - -At all times the villages were infested with beggars; for, as Letronne -observes, the poor were relieved in the towns, but in the country, -during the winter, mendicity was their only resource. - -Occasionally these poor wretches were treated with great violence. In -1767 the Duc de Choiseul, then Minister, resolved suddenly to suppress -mendicity in France. The correspondence of the Intendants still shows -with what rigour his measures were taken. The patrol was ordered at -once to take up all the beggars found in the kingdom; it is said that -more than 50,000 of them were seized. Able-bodied vagabonds were to be -sent to the galleys; as for the rest, more than forty workhouses were -opened to receive them. It would have been more to the purpose to have -opened the hearts of the rich. - -This Government of the ancient French monarchy, which was, as I -have said, so mild, and sometimes so timid, so full of formalities, -of delays, and of scruples, when it had to do with those who were -placed above the common people, was always harsh and always prompt in -proceeding against the lower orders, especially against the peasantry. -Amongst the records which I have examined, I have not seen one relating -to the arrest of a man of the middle class by order of the Intendant; -but the peasants were arrested continually, some for forced labour, -some for begging, some for the militia, some by the police or for a -hundred other causes. The former class enjoyed independent courts of -justice, long trials, and a public procedure; the latter fell under the -control of the provost-marshal, summarily and without appeal.[69] - -‘The immense distance which exists between the common people and all -the other classes of society,’ Necker wrote in 1785, ‘contributes -to avert our observation from the manner in which authority may be -handled in relation to all those persons lost in a crowd. Without the -gentleness and humanity which characterise the French and the spirit of -this age, this would be a continual subject of sorrow to those who can -feel for others under burdens from which they are themselves exempt.’ - -But this oppression was less apparent in the positive evil done to -those unhappy classes than in the impediments which prevented them from -improving their own condition. They were free and they were owners of -land, yet they remained almost as ignorant, and often more indigent, -than the serfs, their forefathers. They were still without industrial -employment, amidst all the wonderful creations of the modern arts; they -were still uncivilised in a world glittering with civilisation. If they -retained the peculiar intelligence and perspicacity of their race, they -had not been taught to use these qualities; they could not even succeed -in the cultivation of the soil, the only thing they had to do. ‘The -husbandry I see before me is that of the tenth century,’ was the remark -of a celebrated English agriculturist in France. They excelled in no -profession but in that of arms; there at least they came naturally and -necessarily into contact with the other classes. - -In this depth of isolation and indigence the French peasantry lived; -they lived enclosed and inaccessible within it. I have been surprised -and almost shocked to perceive that less than twenty years before the -Catholic worship was abolished without resistance in France and the -churches desecrated, the means taken to ascertain the population of a -district were these: the parish priests reported the number of persons -who had attended at Easter at the Lord’s table--an estimate was added -for the probable number of children and of the sick; the result gave -the whole body of the population. Nevertheless the spirit of the age -had begun to penetrate by many ways into these untutored minds; it -penetrated by irregular and hidden channels, and assumed the strangest -shapes in their narrow and obscure capacities. Yet nothing seemed as -yet externally changed; the manners, the habits, the faith of the -peasant seemed to be the same; he was submissive, and was even merry. - -There is something fallacious in the merriment which the French often -exhibit in the midst of the greatest calamities. It only proves that, -believing their ill fortune to be inevitable, they seek to throw it -off by not thinking of it, but not that they do not feel it. Open to -them a door of escape from the evil they seem to bear so lightly, and -they will rush towards it with such violence as to pass over your body -without so much as seeing you, if you are on their path. - -These things are clear to us, from our point of observation; but they -were invisible to contemporary eyes. It is always with great difficulty -that men belonging to the upper classes succeed in discerning with -precision what is passing in the mind of the common people, and -especially of the peasantry. The education and the manner of life of -the peasantry give them certain views of their own, which remain shut -to all other classes. But when the poor and the rich have scarcely any -common interests, common grievances, or common business, the darkness -which conceals the mind of the one from the mind of the other becomes -impenetrable, and the two classes might live for ever side by side -without the slightest interpenetration. It is curious to observe in -what strange security all those who inhabited the upper or the middle -storeys of the social edifice were living at the very time when the -Revolution was beginning, and to mark how ingeniously they discoursed -on the virtues of the common people, on their gentleness, on their -attachment to themselves, on their innocent diversions; the absurd and -terrible contrast of ‘93 was already beneath their feet. - -Let us here pause for a moment as we proceed to consider, amidst all -these minute particulars which I have been describing, one of the -greatest laws of Providence in the government of human societies. - -The French nobility persisted in standing aloof from the other -classes; the landed gentry ended by obtaining exemptions from most of -the public burdens which rested upon them; they imagined that they -should preserve their rank whilst they evaded its duties, and for a -time this seemed to be so. But soon an internal and invisible malady -appeared to have infected their condition; it dwindled away though no -one touched it, and whilst their immunities increased their substance -declined. The middle classes, with which they had been so reluctant to -mingle, grew in wealth and in intelligence beside them, without them, -and against them; they had rejected the middle classes as associates -and as fellow-citizens; but they were about to find in those classes -their rivals, soon their enemies, at length their masters. A superior -power had relieved them from the care of directing, of protecting, of -assisting their vassals; but as that power had left them in the full -enjoyment of their pecuniary rights and their honorary privileges, -they conceived that nothing was lost to them. As they still marched -first, they still thought they were leading; and indeed they had still -about them men whom, in the language of the law, they named their -_subjects_--others were called their vassals, their tenants, their -farmers. But, in reality, none followed them; they were alone, and when -those very classes rose against them, flight was their only resource. - -Although the destinies of the nobility and the middle classes have -differed materially from each other, they have had one point of -resemblance: the men of the middle classes had ended by living as much -apart from the common people as those of the upper classes. Far from -drawing nearer to the peasantry, they had withdrawn from all contact -with their hardships; instead of uniting themselves closely to the -lower orders, to struggle in common against a common inequality, they -only sought to establish fresh preferences in their own favour; and -they were as eager to obtain exemptions for themselves as the nobles -were to maintain their privileges. These peasants, from whom the -middle classes had sprung, were not only become strangers to their -descendants, but were literally unknown by them; and it was not until -arms had been placed by the middle classes in their hands that those -classes perceived what unknown passions they had kindled--passions -which they could neither guide nor control, and which ended by turning -the instigators of those passions into their victims. - -In all future ages the ruins of that great House of France, which -had seemed destined to extend over the whole of Europe, will be the -wonder of mankind; but those who read its history with attention will -understand without difficulty its fall. Almost all the vices, almost -all the errors, almost all the fatal prejudices I have had occasion to -describe, owed either their origin, or their duration, or their extent -to the arts practised by most of the kings of France to divide their -subjects in order to govern them more absolutely. - -But when the middle classes were thus thoroughly severed from the -nobility, and the peasantry from the nobility, as well as from the -middle classes--when, by the progress of the same influences within -each class, each of them was internally subdivided into minute bodies, -almost as isolated from each other as the classes to which they -belonged, the result was one homogeneous mass, the parts of which no -longer cohered. Nothing was any longer so organised as to thwart the -Government--nothing so as to assist it; insomuch that the whole fabric -of the grandeur of the monarchy might fall to pieces at once and in a -moment as soon as the society on which it rested was disturbed. - -And the people, which alone seem to have learnt something from the -misconduct and the mistakes of all its masters, if indeed it escaped -their empire, failed to shake off the false notions, the vicious -habits, the evil tendencies which those masters had imparted to -it, or allowed it to assume. Sometimes that people has carried the -predilections of a slave into the enjoyment of its liberty, alike -incapable of self-government and hostile to those who would have -directed it. - -I now resume my track; and, losing sight of the old and general -facts which have prepared the great Revolution I design to paint, I -proceed to the more particular and more recent incidents which finally -determined its occurrence, its origin, and its character. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[59] See Notes LII. and LIII. - -[60] See Note LIV., Example of the Mischievous Effects of the Pecuniary -Rights of the Clergy. - -[61] See Note LV. - -[62] See Note LVI., Superiority of Method adopted in the _Pays d’État_. - -[63] See Note LVII., Repair of Roads, how regarded. - -[64] See Note LVIII., Commitments for Non-performance of Compulsory -Labour. - -[65] See Note LIX. - -[66] See Note LX., Escort of Galley-slaves. - -[67] See Note LXI. - -[68] See Note LXII. - -[69] See Note LXIII. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII. - - SHOWING THAT TOWARDS THE MIDDLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY MEN OF - LETTERS BECAME THE LEADING POLITICAL MEN OF FRANCE, AND OF THE - EFFECTS OF THIS OCCURRENCE. - - -France had long been the most literary of all the nations of Europe; -although her literary men had never exhibited such intellectual powers -as they displayed about the middle of the eighteenth century, or -occupied such a position as that which they then assumed. Nothing of -the kind had ever been seen in France, or perhaps in any other country. -They were not constantly mixed up with public affairs as in England: at -no period, on the contrary, had they lived more apart from them. They -were invested with no authority whatever, and filled no public offices -in a society crowded with public officers; yet they did not, like the -greater part of their brethren in Germany, keep entirely aloof from -the arena of politics and retire into the regions of pure philosophy -and polite literature. They busied themselves incessantly with matters -appertaining to government, and this was, in truth, their special -occupation. Thus they were continually holding forth on the origin and -primitive forms of society, the primary rights of the citizen and of -government, the natural and artificial relations of men, the wrong or -right of customary laws, and the principles of legislation. While they -thus penetrated to the fundamental basis of the constitution of their -time, they examined its structure with minute care and criticised its -general plan. All, it is true, did not make a profound and special -study of these great problems: the greater part only touched upon them -cursorily, and as it were in sport: but they all dealt with them more -or less. This species of abstract and literary politics was scattered -in unequal proportions through all the works of the period; from the -ponderous treatise to the popular song, not one of them but contained -some grains of it. - -As for the political systems of these writers, they varied so greatly -one from the other that any attempt to reconcile them, or to form any -one theory of government out of them, would be an impracticable task. -Nevertheless, by discarding matters of detail, so as to get at the -first leading ideas, it may be easily discovered that the authors of -these different systems agreed at least in one very general notion, -which all of them seem to have alike conceived, and which appears to -have pre-existed in their minds before all the notions peculiar to -themselves and to have been their common fountain-head. However widely -they may have diverged in the rest of their course, they all started -from this point. They all agreed that it was expedient to substitute -simple and elementary rules, deduced from reason and natural law, for -the complicated traditional customs which governed the society of their -time. Upon a strict scrutiny it may be seen that what might be called -the political philosophy of the eighteenth century consisted, properly -speaking, in this one notion. - -These opinions were by no means novel; for three thousand years they -had unceasingly traversed the imaginations of mankind, though without -being able to stamp themselves there. How came they at last to take -possession of the minds of all the writers of this period? Why, instead -of progressing no farther than the heads of a few philosophers, as had -frequently been the case, had they at last reached the masses, and -assumed the strength and the fervour of a political passion to such a -degree, that general and abstract theories upon the nature of society -became daily topics of conversation, and even inflamed the imaginations -of women, and of the peasantry? How was it that literary men, -possessing neither rank, nor honours, nor fortune, nor responsibility, -nor power, became, in fact, the principal political men of the day, and -even the only political men, inasmuch as whilst others held the reins -of government, they alone grasped its authority? - -A few words may suffice to show what an extraordinary and terrible -influence these circumstances, which apparently belong only to the -history of French literature, exercised upon the Revolution, and even -upon the present condition of France. - -It was not by chance that the philosophers of the eighteenth century -thus coincided in entertaining notions so opposed to those which -still served as bases to the society of their time: these ideas had -been naturally suggested to them by the aspect of the society which -they had all before their eyes. The sight of so many unjust or absurd -privileges, the burden of which was more and more felt whilst their -cause was less and less understood, urged, or rather precipitated, -the minds of one and all towards the idea of the natural equality of -man’s condition. Whilst they looked upon so many strange and irregular -institutions, born of other times, which no one had attempted either -to bring into harmony with each other or to adapt to modern wants, -and which appeared likely to perpetuate their existence though they -had lost their worth, they learned to abhor what was ancient and -traditional, and naturally became desirous of re-constructing the -social edifice of their day upon an entirely new plan--a plan which -each one traced solely by the light of his reason.[70] - -These writers were predisposed, by their own position, to relish -general and abstract theories upon the subject of government, and -to place in them the blindest confidence. The almost immeasurable -distance in which they lived from practical duties afforded them no -experience to moderate the ardour of their character; nothing warned -them of the obstacles which the actual state of things might oppose -to reforms, however desirable. They had no idea of the perils which -always accompany the most needful revolutions; they had not even a -presentiment of them, for the complete absence of all political liberty -had the effect of rendering the transaction of public affairs not only -unknown to them, but even invisible. They were neither employed in -those affairs themselves, nor could they see what those employed in -them were doing. They were consequently destitute of that superficial -instruction which the sight of a free community, and the tumult of -its discussions, bestow even upon those who are least mixed up with -government. Thus they became far more bold in innovation, more fond -of generalising and of systems, more disdainful of the wisdom of -antiquity, and still more confident in their individual reason, than is -commonly to be seen in authors who write speculative books on politics. - -The same state of ignorance opened to them the ears and hearts of the -people. It may be confidently affirmed that if the French had still -taken part, as they formerly had done, in the States-General, or if -even they had found a daily occupation in the administration of the -affairs of the country in the assemblies of their several provinces, -they would not have allowed themselves to be inflamed as they were by -the ideas of the writers of the day, since they would have retained -certain habits of public business which would have preserved them from -the evils of pure theory. - -Had they been able, like the English, gradually to modify the spirit of -their ancient institutions by practical experience without destroying -them, they would perhaps have been less inclined to invent new ones. -But there was not a man who did not daily feel himself injured in -his fortune, in his person, in his comfort, or his pride by some old -law, some ancient political custom, or some other remnant of former -authority, without perceiving at hand any remedy that he could himself -apply to his own particular hardship. It appeared that the whole -constitution of the country must either be endured or destroyed. - -The French, however, had still preserved one liberty amidst the -ruin of every other: they were still free to philosophise almost -without restraint upon the origin of society, the essential nature of -governments, and the primordial rights of mankind. - -All those who felt themselves aggrieved by the daily application of -existing laws were soon enamoured of these literary politics. The same -taste soon reached even those who by nature or by their condition -of life seemed the farthest removed from abstract speculations. -Every tax-payer wronged by the unequal distribution of the _taille_ -was fired by the idea that all men ought to be equal; every little -landowner devoured by the rabbits of his noble neighbour was delighted -to be told that all privileges were, without distinction, contrary to -reason. Every public passion thus assumed the disguise of philosophy; -all political action was violently driven back into the domain of -literature; and the writers of the day, undertaking the guidance of -public opinion, found themselves at one time in that position which the -heads of parties commonly hold in free countries. No one in fact was -any longer in a condition to contend with them for the part they had -assumed. - -An aristocracy in all its vigour not only carries on the affairs of -a country, but directs public opinion, gives a tone to literature, -and the stamp of authority to ideas; but the French nobility of the -eighteenth century had entirely lost this portion of its supremacy; -its influence had followed the fortunes of its power; and the position -it had occupied in the direction of the public mind had been entirely -abandoned to the writers of the day, to occupy as they pleased. Nay -more, this very aristocracy whose place they thus assumed, favoured -their undertaking. So completely had it forgotten the fact that general -theories, once admitted, inevitably transform themselves in time into -political passions and deeds, that doctrines the most adverse to the -peculiar rights, and even to the existence, of the nobility were looked -upon as ingenious exercises of the mind; the nobles even shared as -a pleasant pastime in these discussions, and quietly enjoyed their -immunities and privileges whilst they serenely discussed the absurdity -of all established customs. - -Astonishment has frequently been expressed at the singular blindness -with which the higher classes under the old monarchy of France thus -contributed to their own ruin. But whence could they have become -more enlightened? Free institutions are not less necessary to show -the greater citizens their perils than to secure to the lesser their -rights. For more than a century since the last traces of public life -had disappeared in France, no shock, no rumour had ever warned those -most directly interested in the maintenance of the ancient constitution -that the old building was tottering to its fall. As nothing had changed -in its external aspect, they imagined that everything had remained -the same. Their minds were thus bounded by the same horizon at which -that of their fathers had stopped. In the public documents of the -year 1789 the nobility appears to have been as much preoccupied with -the idea of the encroachments of the royal power as it could possibly -have been in those of the fifteenth century. On the other hand, the -unfortunate Louis XVI. just before his own destruction by the incursion -of democracy, still continued (as has been justly remarked by Burke) -to look upon the aristocracy as the chief rival of the royal power, -and mistrusted it as much as if he was still living in the days of the -_Fronde_. The middle and lower classes on the contrary were in his -eyes, as in those of his forefathers, the surest support of the throne. - -But that which must appear still more strange to men of the present -day--men who have the shattered fragments of so many revolutions -before their eyes--is the fact, that not the barest notion of a -violent revolution ever entered into the minds of the generation which -witnessed it. Such a notion was never discussed, for it was never -conceived. Those minor shocks which the exercise of political liberty -is continually imparting to the best constituted societies, serve -daily to call to mind the possibility of an earthquake, and to keep -public vigilance on the alert; but in the state of society of France -in the eighteenth century, on the brink of this abyss, nothing had yet -indicated that the fabric leaned. - -On examining with attention the Instructions drawn up by the three -Orders before their convocation in 1789--by all the three, the nobility -and clergy, as well as the _Tiers-État_--noting _seriatim_ all the -demands made for the changes of laws or customs, it will be seen with -a sort of terror, on terminating this immense labour, and casting up -the sum total of all these particular requirements, that what was -required is no less than the simultaneous and systematic abolition of -every law and every usage current throughout the country; and that -what was impending must be one of the most extensive and dangerous -revolutions that ever appeared in the world. Yet the very men who were -so shortly to become its victims knew nothing of it. They fancied that -the total and sudden transformation of so ancient and complicated a -state of society was to be effected, without any concussion, by the -aid and efficacy of reason alone; and they fatally forgot that maxim -which their forefathers, four hundred years before, had expressed in -the simple and energetic language of their time: ‘_Par requierre de -trop grande franchise et libertés chet-on en trop grande servaige._’ -(By requiring too great liberty and franchise, men fall into too great -servitude.) - -It was not surprising that the nobility and middle classes, so long -excluded from all public action, should have displayed this strange -inexperience; but what astonishes far more is, that the very men who -had the conduct of public affairs, the ministers, the magistrates, -and the Intendants, should not have evinced more foresight. Many of -them, nevertheless, were very clever men in their profession, and were -thoroughly possessed of all the details of the public administration -of their time; but in that great science of government, which teaches -the comprehension of the general movement of society, the appreciation -of what is passing in the minds of the masses, and the foreknowledge -of the probable results--they were just as much novices as the people -itself. In truth, it is only the exercise of free institutions that can -teach the statesman this principal portion of his art. - -This may easily be seen in the Memoir addressed by Turgot to the -King in 1775, in which, among other matters, he advised his Majesty -to summon a representative assembly, freely elected by the whole -nation, to meet every year, for six weeks, about his own person, but -to grant it no effective power. His proposal was, that this assembly -should take cognisance of administrative business, but never of the -government--should offer suggestions rather than express a will--and, -in fact, should be commissioned to discuss laws, but not to make them. -‘In this wise,’ said the Memoir, ‘the royal power would be enlightened, -but not thwarted, and public opinion contented without danger: for -these assemblies would have no authority to oppose any indispensable -operation; and if, which is most improbable, they should not lend -themselves to this duty, his Majesty would still be the master to do as -he pleases.’ - -It was impossible to show greater ignorance of the true bearing of -such a measure, and of the spirit of the times. It has frequently -happened, it is true, that towards the end of a revolutionary period, -such a proposal as that made by Turgot has been carried into effect -with impunity, and that a shadow of liberty has been granted without -the reality. Augustus made the experiment with success. A nation -fatigued by a prolonged struggle may willingly consent to be duped in -order to obtain repose; and history shows that enough may then be done -to satisfy it, by collecting from all parts of the country a certain -number of obscure or dependent individuals, and making them play -before it the part of a political assembly for the wages they receive. -There have been several examples of the kind. But at the commencement -of a revolution such experiments always fail; they inflame, without -satisfying the people. This truth, known to the humblest citizen of a -free country, was not known to Turgot, great administrator as he was. - -If now it be taken into consideration that this same French nation, so -ignorant of its own public affairs, so utterly devoid of experience, -so hampered by its institutions, and so powerless to amend them, was -also in those days the most lettered and witty nation of the earth, it -may readily be understood how the writers of the time became a great -political power, and ended by being the first power in the country. - -In England those who wrote on the subject of government were connected -with those who governed; the latter applied new ideas to practice--the -former corrected or controlled their theories by practical observation. -But in France the political world remained divided into two separate -provinces, with no mutual intercourse. One portion governed; the other -established abstract principles on which all government ought to be -founded. Here measures were taken in obedience to routine; there -general laws were propounded, without even a thought as to the means of -their application. These kept the direction of affairs; those guided -the intelligence of the nation. - -Above the actual state of society--the constitution of which was still -traditional, confused, and irregular, and in which the laws remained -conflicting and contradictory, ranks sharply sundered, the conditions -of the different classes fixed whilst their burdens were unequal--an -imaginary state of society was thus springing up, in which everything -appeared simple and co-ordinate, uniform, equitable, and agreeable to -reason. The imagination of the people gradually deserted the former -state of things in order to seek refuge in the latter. Interest was -lost in what was, to foster dreams of what might be; and men thus dwelt -in fancy in this ideal city, which was the work of literary invention. - -The French Revolution has been frequently attributed to that of -America. The American Revolution had certainly considerable influence -upon the French; but the latter owed less to what was actually done in -the United States than to what was thought at the same time in France. -Whilst to the rest of Europe the Revolution of America still only -appeared a novel and strange occurrence, in France it only rendered -more palpable and more striking that which was already supposed to -be known. Other countries it astonished; to France it brought more -complete conviction. The Americans seemed to have done no more than -execute what the literary genius of France had already conceived; they -gave the substance of reality to that which the French had excogitated. -It was as if Fénelon had suddenly found himself in Salentum. - -This circumstance, so novel in history, of the whole political -education of a great people being formed by its literary men, -contributed more than anything perhaps to bestow upon the French -Revolution its peculiar stamp, and to cause those results which are -still perceptible. - -The writers of the time not only imparted their ideas to the people -who effected the Revolution, but they gave them also their peculiar -temperament and disposition. The whole nation ended, after being so -long schooled by them, in the absence of all other leaders and in -profound ignorance of practical affairs, by catching up the instincts, -the turn of mind, the tastes, and even the humours of those who wrote; -so that, when the time for action came, it transported into the arena -of politics all the habits of literature. - -A study of the history of the French Revolution will show that it -was carried on precisely in that same spirit which has caused so -many abstract books to be written on government. There was the same -attraction towards general theories, complete systems of legislation, -and exact symmetry in the laws--the same contempt of existing -facts--the same reliance upon theory--the same love of the original, -the ingenious, and the novel in institutions--the same desire to -reconstruct, all at once, the entire constitution by the rules of -logic, and upon a single plan, rather than seek to amend it in its -parts. The spectacle was an alarming one; for that which is a merit -in a writer is often a fault in a statesman: and the same things -which have often caused great books to be written, may lead to great -revolutions. - -Even the political language of the time caught something of the tone in -which the authors spoke: it was full of general expressions, abstract -terms, pompous words, and literary turns. This style, aided by the -political passions which it expressed, penetrated through all classes, -and descended with singular facility even to the lowest. Considerably -before the Revolution, the edicts of Louis XVI. frequently spoke -of the law of nature and the rights of man; and I have found -instances of peasants who, in their memorials called their neighbours -‘fellow-citizens,’ their _Intendant_ ‘a respectable magistrate,’ their -parish-priest ‘the minister of the altar,’ and God ‘the Supreme Being,’ -and who wanted nothing but spelling to become very indifferent authors. - -These new qualities became so completely incorporated with the old -stock of the French character, that habits resulting only from this -singular education have frequently been attributed to the natural -disposition of the French. It has been asserted that the taste, or -rather the passion, which the French have displayed during the last -sixty years for general ideas and big words in political discussion, -arose from some characteristic peculiar to the French race, which has -been somewhat pedantically called ‘the genius of France,’ as if this -pretended characteristic could suddenly have displayed itself at the -end of the last century, after having remained concealed during the -whole history of the country. - -It is singular that the French have preserved the habits which they had -derived from literature, whilst they have almost entirely lost their -ancient love of literature itself. I have been frequently astonished in -the course of my own public life, to see that men who had never read -the works of the eighteenth century, or of any other, and who had a -great contempt for authors, nevertheless so faithfully retain some of -the principal defects which were displayed before their birth by the -literary spirit of that day. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[70] See Note LXIV. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV. - - SHOWING HOW IRRELIGION HAD BECOME A GENERAL AND DOMINANT PASSION - AMONGST THE FRENCH OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, AND WHAT INFLUENCE - THIS FACT HAD ON THE CHARACTER OF THE REVOLUTION. - - -From the time of the great Revolution of the sixteenth century, when -the spirit of free inquiry undertook to decide which were false and -which were true among the different traditions of Christianity, it had -never ceased to engender certain minds of a more curious or a bolder -stamp, who contested or rejected them all. The same spirit that, in -the days of Luther, had at once driven several millions of Catholics -out of the pale of Catholicism, continued to drive in individual cases -some few Christians out of the pale of Christianity itself. Heresy was -followed by unbelief. - -It may be said generally that in the eighteenth century Christianity -had lost over the whole of the continent of Europe a great part of its -power; but in most countries it was rather neglected than violently -contested, and even those who forsook it did so with regret. Irreligion -was disseminated among the Courts and wits of the age; but it had not -yet penetrated into the hearts of the middle and lower classes. It was -still the caprice of some leading intellects, not the opinion of the -vulgar. ‘It is a prejudice commonly diffused throughout Germany,’ said -Mirabeau, in 1787, ‘that the Prussian provinces are full of atheists; -when, in truth, although some freethinkers are to be met with there, -the people of those parts are as much attached to religion as in the -most superstitious countries, and even a great number of fanatics are -to be found there.’ To this he added, that it was much to be regretted -that Frederick II. had not sanctioned the marriage of the Catholic -clergy, and, above all, had refused to leave those priests who married -in possession of the income of their ecclesiastical preferment; ‘a -measure,’ he continued, ‘which we should have ventured to consider -worthy of the great man.’ Nowhere but in France had irreligion become a -general passion, fervid, intolerant, and oppressive. - -There the state of things was such as had never occurred before. In -other times, established religions had been attacked with violence; -but the ardour evinced against them had always taken rise in the zeal -inspired by a new faith. Even the false and detestable religions of -antiquity had not had either numerous or passionate adversaries until -Christianity arose to supplant them; till then they were quietly and -noiselessly dying out in doubt and indifference--dying, in fact, the -death of religions, by old age. But in France the Christian religion -was attacked with a sort of rage, without any attempt to substitute any -other belief. Continuous and vehement efforts having been made to expel -from the soul of man the faith that had filled it, the soul was left -empty. A mighty multitude wrought with ardour at this thankless task. -That absolute incredulity in matters of religion which is so contrary -to the natural instincts of man, and places his soul in so painful a -condition, appeared attractive to the masses. That which until then -had only produced the effect of a sickly languor, began to generate -fanaticism and a spirit of propagandism. - -The occurrence of several great writers, all disposed to deny the -truths of the Christian religion, can hardly be accepted as a -sufficient explanation of so extraordinary an event. For how, it may -be asked, came all these writers, every one of them, to turn their -talents in this direction rather than any other? Why, among them all, -cannot one be found who took it into his head to support the other -side? and, finally, how was it that they found the ears of the masses -far more open to listen to them than any of their predecessors had -done, and men’s minds so inclined to believe them? The efforts of all -these writers, and above all their success, can only be explained by -causes altogether peculiar to their time and their country. The spirit -of Voltaire had already been long in the world: but Voltaire himself, -in truth, could never have attained his supremacy, except in the -eighteenth century and in France. - -It must first be acknowledged that the Church was not more open to -attack in France than elsewhere. The corruptions and abuses which had -been allowed to creep into it were less, on the contrary, there than in -most other Catholic countries. The Church of France was infinitely more -tolerant than it had ever been previously and than the Church still was -in other nations. Consequently, the peculiar causes of this phenomenon -must be looked for less in the condition of religion itself than in -that of society. - -For the thorough comprehension of this fact, what was said in the -preceding chapter must not be lost sight of--namely, that the whole -spirit of political opposition excited by the corruption of the -Government, not being able to find a vent in public affairs, had taken -refuge in literature, and that the writers of the day had become the -real leaders of the great party which tended to overthrow the social -and political institutions of the country. - -This being well understood, the question is altered. We no longer ask -in what the Church of that day erred as a religious institution, but -how far it stood opposed to the political revolution which was at hand, -and how it was more especially irksome to the writers who were the -principal promoters of this revolution. - -The Church, by the first principles of her ecclesiastical government, -was adverse to the principles which they were desirous of establishing -in civil government. The Church rested principally upon tradition; they -professed great contempt for all institutions based upon respect for -the past. The Church recognised an authority superior to individual -reason; they appealed to nothing but that reason. The Church was -founded upon a hierarchy: they aimed at an entire subversion of ranks. -To have come to a common understanding it would have been necessary -for both sides to have recognised the fact, that political society and -religious society, being by nature essentially different, cannot be -regulated by analogous laws. But at that time they were far enough from -any such conclusion; and it was fancied that, in order to attack the -institutions of the State, those of the Church must be destroyed which -served as their foundation and their model. - -Moreover, the Church was itself the first of the political powers of -the time; and, although not the most oppressive, the most hated; for -she had contrived to mix herself up with those powers, without having -any claim to that position either by her nature or her vocation; she -often sanctioned in them the very defects she blamed elsewhere; she -covered them with her own sacred inviolability, and seemed desirous of -rendering them as immortal as herself. An attack upon the Church was -sure at once to chime in with the strong feeling of the public. - -But, besides these general reasons, the literary men of France had more -special, and, so to say, personal reasons for attacking the Church -in the first instance. The Church represented precisely that portion -of the Government which stood nearest and most directly opposed to -themselves. The other powers of the State were only felt by them from -time to time; but the ecclesiastical authority being specially employed -in keeping watch over the progress of thought, and the censorship of -books, was a daily annoyance to them. By defending the common liberties -of the human mind against the Church, they were combating in their own -cause, and they began by bursting the shackles which pressed most -closely upon themselves. - -Moreover, the Church appeared to them to be, and was, in fact, the most -open and the worst defended side of all the vast edifice which they -were assailing. Her strength had declined at the same time that the -temporal power of the Crown had increased. After having been first the -superior of the temporal powers, then their equal, she had come down -to be their client; and a sort of reciprocity had been established -between them. The temporal powers lent the Church their material force, -whilst the Church lent them her moral authority; they caused the Church -to be obeyed, the Church caused them to be respected--a dangerous -interchange of obligations in times of approaching revolution, and -always disadvantageous to a power founded not upon constraint but upon -faith. - -Although the Kings of France still called themselves the eldest sons -of the Church, they fulfilled their obligations towards her most -negligently: they evinced far less ardour in her protection than in the -defence of their own government. They did not, it is true, permit any -direct attack upon her, but they suffered her to be transfixed from a -distance by a thousand shafts. - -The sort of semi-constraint which was at that time imposed upon the -enemies of the Church, instead of diminishing their power, augmented -it. There are times when the restraint imposed on literature succeeds -in arresting the progress of opinions; there are others when it -accelerates their course: but a species of control similar to that -then exercised over the press, has invariably augmented its power a -hundredfold. - -Authors were persecuted enough to excite compassion--not enough to -inspire them with terror. They suffered from that kind of annoyance -which irritates to opposition, not from the heavy yoke which crushes. -The prosecutions directed against them, which were almost always -dilatory, noisy, and vain, appeared less calculated to prevent their -writing than to excite them to the task. A complete liberty of the -press would have been less prejudicial to the Church. - -‘You consider our intolerance more favourable to the progress of the -mind than your unlimited liberty,’ wrote Diderot to David Hume in 1768. -‘D’Holbach, Helvetius, Morelet, and Suard, are not of your opinion.’ -Yet it was the Scotchman who was right; he possessed the experience of -the free country in which he lived. Diderot looked upon the matter as a -literary man--Hume, as a politician. - -If the first American who might be met by chance, either in his own -country or abroad, were to be stopped and asked whether he considered -religion useful to the stability of the laws and the good order of -society, he would answer, without hesitation, that no civilised -society, but more especially none in a state of freedom, can exist -without religion. Respect for religion is, in his eyes, the greatest -guarantee of the stability of the State and of the safety of the -community. Those who are ignorant of the science of government know -that fact at least. Yet there is not a country in the world where -the boldest doctrines of the philosophers of the eighteenth century, -on political subjects, have been more adopted than in America: their -anti-religious doctrines alone have never been able to make way there, -even with the advantage of an unlimited liberty of the press. - -As much may be said of the English.[71] French irreligious philosophy -had been preached to them even before the greater part of the French -philosophers were born. It was Bolingbroke who set up Voltaire. -Throughout the eighteenth century infidelity had celebrated champions -in England. Able writers and profound thinkers espoused that cause, but -they were never able to render it triumphant as in France; inasmuch as -all those who had anything to fear from revolutions eagerly came to the -rescue of the established faith. Even those who were the most mixed -up with the French society of the day, and who did not look upon the -doctrines of French philosophy as false, rejected them as dangerous. -Great political parties, as is always the case in free countries, -were interested in attaching their cause to that of the Church; and -Bolingbroke himself became the ally of the bishops. The clergy, -animated by these examples, and never finding itself deserted, combated -manfully in its own cause. The Church of England, in spite of the -defects of its constitution, and the abuses of every kind that swarmed -within it, supported the shock victoriously. Authors and orators -rose within it, and applied themselves with ardour to the defence of -Christianity. The theories hostile to that religion, after having been -discussed and refuted, were finally rejected by the action of society -itself, and without any interference on the part of the Government. - -It is not necessary, however, to seek examples beyond France itself. -What Frenchman would ever think in our times of writing such books as -those of Diderot or Helvetius? Who would read them now? and, it may -almost be said, who even knows their titles? The imperfect experience -of public life which France has acquired during the last sixty -years has been sufficient to disgust the French with this dangerous -literature. It is only necessary to see how much the respect for -religion has gradually resumed its sway among the different classes -of the nation, according as each of them acquired that experience in -the rude school of Revolution. The old nobility, which was the most -irreligious class before 1789, became the most fervent after 1793: it -was the first infected, and the first cured. When the _bourgeoisie_ -felt itself struck down in its triumph, it began also, in its turn, -gradually to revert to religious faith. Little by little, respect for -religion penetrated to all the classes in which men had anything to -lose by popular disturbances; and infidelity disappeared, or at least -hid its head more and more, as the fear of revolutions arose. - -But this was by no means the case at the time immediately preceding the -Revolution of 1789. The French had so completely lost all practical -experience in the great affairs of mankind, and were so thoroughly -ignorant of the part held by religion in the government of empires, -that infidelity first established itself in the minds of the very men -who had the greatest and most pressing personal interest in keeping -the State in order and the people in obedience. Not only did they -themselves embrace it, but in their blindness they disseminated it -below them. They made impiety the pastime of their vacant existence. - -The Church of France, so prolific down to that period in great orators, -when she found herself deserted by all those who ought to have rallied -by a common interest to her cause, became mute. It seemed at one time -that, provided she retained her wealth and her rank, she was ready to -renounce her faith. - -As those who denied the truths of Christianity spoke aloud, and those -who still believed held their peace, a state of things was the result -which has since frequently occurred again in France, not only on the -question of religion, but in very different matters. Those who still -preserved their ancient belief, fearing to be the only men who still -remained faithful to it, and more afraid of isolation than of error, -followed the crowd without partaking its opinions. Thus, that which was -still only the feeling of a portion of the nation, appeared to be the -opinion of all, and, from that very fact, seemed irresistible even to -those who had themselves given it this false appearance. - -The universal discredit into which every form of religious belief had -fallen, at the end of the last century, exercised without any doubt the -greatest influence upon the whole of the French Revolution: it stamped -its character. Nothing contributed more to give its features that -terrible expression which they wore. - -In seeking to distinguish between the different effects which -irreligion at that time produced in France, it may be seen that it was -rather by disturbing men’s minds than by degrading their hearts, or -even corrupting their morals, that it disposed the men of that day to -go to such strange excesses. - -When religion thus deserted the souls of men, it did not leave them, as -is frequently the case, empty and debilitated. They were filled for the -time with sentiments and ideas that occupied its place, and did not, at -first, allow them to be utterly prostrate. - -If the French who effected the Revolution were more incredulous than -those of the present day in matters of religion, at least they had one -admirable faith which the present generation has not. They had faith -in themselves. They never doubted of the perfectibility and power of -man: they were burning with enthusiasm for his glory: they believed -in his worth. They placed that proud confidence in their own strength -which so often leads to error, but without which a people is only -capable of servitude: they never doubted of their call to transform -the face of society and regenerate the human race. These sentiments -and passions became like a sort of new religion to them, which, as it -produced some of those great effects which religions produce, kept them -from individual selfishness, urged them on even to self-sacrifice and -heroism, and frequently rendered them insensible to all those petty -objects which possess the men of the present day. - -After a profound study of history we may still venture to affirm that -there never was a revolution, in which, at the commencement, more -sincere patriotism, more disinterestedness, more true greatness, were -displayed by so great a number of men. The nation then exhibited the -principal defect, but, at the same time, the principal ornament, which -youth possesses, or rather did possess, namely, inexperience and -generosity. - -Yet irreligion had produced an enormous public evil. In most of the -great political revolutions, which, up to that period, had appeared in -the world, those who had attacked the established laws had respected -the creeds of the country; and, in the greater part of the religious -revolutions, those who attacked religion made no attempt to change, at -one blow, the nature and order of all the established authorities, and -to raze to the ground the ancient constitution of the government. In -the greatest convulsions of society one point, at least, had remained -unshaken. - -But in the French Revolution, the religious laws having been abolished -at the same time that the civil laws were overthrown, the minds -of men were entirely upset: they no longer knew either to what to -cling, or where to stop; and thus arose a hitherto unknown species of -revolutionists, who carried their boldness to a pitch of madness, who -were surprised by no novelty and arrested by no scruple, and who never -hesitated to put any design whatever into execution. Nor must it be -supposed that these new beings have been the isolated and ephemeral -creation of a moment, and destined to pass away as that moment passed. -They have since formed a race of beings which has perpetuated itself, -and spread into all the civilised parts of the world, everywhere -preserving the same physiognomy, the same passions, the same character. -The present generation found it in the world at its birth: it still -remains before our eyes. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[71] See Note LXV., Infidelity in England. - - - - -CHAPTER XV. - - THAT THE FRENCH AIMED AT REFORM BEFORE LIBERTY. - - -It is worthy of observation that amongst all the ideas and all the -feelings which led to the French Revolution, the idea and the taste -for political liberty, properly so called, were the last to manifest -themselves and the first to disappear. - -For some time past the ancient fabric of the Government had begun to -be shaken; it tottered already, but liberty was not yet thought of. -Even Voltaire had scarcely thought about it; three years’ residence -in England had shown him what that liberty is, but without attaching -him to it. The sceptical philosophy which was then in vogue in England -enchanted him; the political laws of England hardly attracted his -attention; he was more struck by their defects than by their merits. In -his letters on England, which are one of his best pieces, Parliament -is hardly mentioned; the fact was that he envied the English their -literary freedom without caring for their political freedom, as if the -former could ever long exist without the latter. - -Towards the middle of the eighteenth century, a certain number of -writers began to appear who devoted themselves especially to questions -of public administration, and who were designated, in consequence of -several principles which they held in common, by the general name of -political economists or _physiocrates_. These economists have left less -conspicuous traces in history than the French philosophers; perhaps -they contributed less to the approach of the Revolution; yet I think -that the true character of the Revolution may best be studied in their -works. The French philosophers confined themselves for the most part to -very general and very abstract opinions on government; the economists, -without abandoning theory, clung more closely to facts. The former said -what might be thought; the latter sometimes pointed out what might be -done. All the institutions which the Revolution was about to annihilate -for ever were the peculiar objects of their attacks; none found favour -in their sight. All the institutions, on the contrary, which may be -regarded as the product of the Revolution, were announced beforehand -by these economical writers, and ardently recommended; there is hardly -one of these institutions of which the germ may not be discovered in -some of their writings; and those writings may be said to contain all -that is most substantial in the Revolution itself. - -Nay, more, their books already bore the stamp of that revolutionary -and democratic temper which we know so well: they breathe not only the -hatred of certain privileges, but even diversity was odious to them; -they would adore equality, even in servitude. All that thwarts their -designs is to be crushed. They care little for plighted faith, nothing -for private rights--or rather, to speak accurately, private rights have -already ceased in their eyes to exist--public utility is everything. -Yet these were men, for the most part, of gentle and peaceful lives, -worthy persons, upright magistrates, able administrators; but the -peculiar spirit of their task bore them onwards. - -The past was to these economists a subject of endless contempt. ‘This -nation has been governed for centuries on false principles,’ said -Letronne, ‘everything seems to have been done by haphazard.’ Starting -from this notion, they set to work; no institution was so ancient or so -well-established in the history of France that they hesitated to demand -its suppression from the moment that it incommoded them or deranged the -symmetry of their plans. One of these writers proposed to obliterate -at once all the ancient territorial divisions of the kingdom, and -to change all the names of the provinces, forty years before the -Constituent Assembly executed this scheme. - -They had already conceived the idea of all the social and -administrative reforms which the Revolution has accomplished before -the idea of free institutions had begun to cross their minds. They -were, indeed, extremely favourable to the free exchange of produce, -and to the doctrine of _laissez faire et laissez passer_, the basis of -free trade and free labour; but as for political liberties, properly -so called, these did not occur to their minds, or, if perchance they -did occur to their imaginations, such ideas were at once rejected. -Most of them began to display considerable hostility to deliberative -assemblies, to local or secondary powers, and, in general, to all -the checks which have been established, at different times, in all -free nations, to balance the central power of the Government. ‘The -system of checks,’ said Quesnay, ‘is a fatal idea in government.’ -‘The speculations on which a system of checks has been devised are -chimerical,’ said a friend of the same writer. - -The sole guarantee invented by them against the abuse of power was -public education; for, as Quesnay elsewhere observes, ‘despotism is -impossible when the nation is enlightened.’ ‘Struck by the evils -arising from abuses of authority,’ said another of his disciples, -‘men have invented a thousand totally useless means of resistance, -whilst they have neglected the only means which are truly efficacious, -namely, public, general, and continual instruction in the principles -of essential justice and natural order.’ This literary nonsense was, -according to these thinkers, to supply the place of all political -securities. - -Letronne, who so bitterly deplored the forlorn condition in which the -Government had left the rural districts, who described them as without -roads, without employment, and without information, never conceived -that their concerns might be more successfully carried on if the -inhabitants themselves were entrusted with the management of them. - -Turgot himself, who deserves to rank far above all the rest for the -elevation of his character and the singular merits of his genius, had -not much more taste than the other economists for political liberty, -or, at least, that taste came to him later, and when it was forced -upon him by public opinion. To him, as well as to all the others, -the chief political security seemed to be a certain kind of public -instruction, given by the State, on a particular system and with a -particular tendency. His confidence in this sort of intellectual drug, -or, as one of his contemporaries expressed it, ‘in the mechanism of an -education regulated by principles,’ was boundless. ‘I venture to assure -your Majesty,’ said he, in a report to the King, proposing a plan of -this nature, ‘that in ten years your people will have changed out of -knowledge; and that by their attainments, by their morality, and by -their enlightened zeal for your service and for that of the country, -France will be raised far above all other nations. Children who are -now ten years of age will then have grown up as men prepared for the -public service, attached to their country, submissive, not through fear -but through reason, to authority, humane to their fellow-citizens, -accustomed to recognise and to respect the administration of justice.’ - -Political freedom had been so long destroyed in France that men had -almost entirely forgotten what are its conditions and its effects. -Nay, more, the shapeless ruins of freedom which still remained, and -the institutions which seem to have been formed to supply its place, -rendered it an object of suspicion and of prejudice. Most of the -Provincial Assemblies which were still in existence retained the spirit -of the Middle Ages as well as their obsolete formalities, and they -checked rather than advanced the progress of society. The Parliaments, -which alone stood in lieu of political bodies, had no power to prevent -the evil which the Government did, and frequently prevented the good -which the Government attempted to do. - -To accomplish the revolution which they contemplated by means of all -these antiquated instruments appeared impracticable to the school of -economists. To confide the execution of their plans to the nation, -mistress of herself, was not more agreeable to them; for how was it -possible to cause a whole people to adopt and follow a system of reform -so extensive and so closely connected in all its parts? It seemed to -them more easy and more proper to make the administrative power of the -Crown itself the instrument of their designs. - -That new administrative power had not sprung from the institutions of -the Middle Ages, nor did it bear the mark of that period; in spite -of its errors they discovered in it some beneficial tendencies. Like -themselves it was naturally favourable to equality of conditions and -to uniformity of rules; as much as themselves it cordially detested -all the ancient powers which were born of feudalism or tended to -aristocracy. In all Europe no machine of government existed so well -organised, so vast, or so strong. To find such a government ready to -their hands seemed to them a most fortunate circumstance; they would -have called it providential, if it had been the fashion then, as it now -is, to cause Providence to intervene on all occasions. ‘The state of -France,’ said Letronne, ‘is infinitely better than that of England, for -here reforms can be accomplished which will change the whole condition -of the country in a moment; whilst among the English such reforms may -always be thwarted by political parties.’ - -The point was, then, not to destroy this absolute power, but to convert -it. ‘The State must govern according to the rules of essential order,’ -said Mercier de la Rivière, ‘and when this is the case it ought to be -all powerful.’ ‘Let the State thoroughly understand its duty, and then -let it be altogether free.’ From Quesnay to the Abbé Bodeau they were -all of the same mind. They not only relied on the royal administration -to reform the social condition of their own age, but they partially -borrowed from it the idea of the future government they hoped to found. -The latter was framed in the image of the former. - -These economists held that it is the business of the State not only -to command the nation, but to fashion it in a certain manner, to form -the character of the population upon a certain preconceived model, to -inspire the mind with such opinions and the heart with such sentiments -as it may deem necessary. In fact, they set no limits to the rights -of the State, nor to what it could effect. The State was not only to -reform men, but to transform them--perhaps if it chose, to make others! -‘The State can make men what it pleases,’ said Bodeau. That proposition -includes all their theories. - -This unlimited social power which the French economists had conceived -was not only greater than any power they ever beheld, but it differed -from every other power by its origin and its nature. It did not flow -directly from the Deity, it did not rest on tradition; it was an -impersonal power; it was not called the King, but the State; it was not -the inheritance of a family, but the product and the representative of -all. It entitled them to bend the right of every man to the will of the -rest. - -That peculiar form of tyranny which is called Democratic Despotism, and -which was utterly unknown to the Middle Ages, was already familiar to -these writers. No gradations in society, no distinctions of classes, no -fixed ranks--a people composed of individuals nearly alike and entirely -equal--this confused mass being recognised as the only legitimate -sovereign, but carefully deprived of all the faculties which could -enable it either to direct or even to superintend its own government. -Above this mass a single officer, charged to do everything in its -name without consulting it. To control this officer, public opinion, -deprived of its organs; to arrest him, revolutions, but no laws. In -principle, a subordinate agent; in fact, a master. - -As nothing was as yet to be found about them which came up to this -ideal, they sought it in the depths of Asia. I affirm, without -exaggeration, that there is not one of these writers who has not, in -some of his productions, passed an emphatic eulogy on China. That, at -least, is always to be found in their books; and, as China was still -very imperfectly known, there is no trash they have not written about -that empire. That stupid and barbarous government, which a handful of -Europeans can overpower when they please, appeared to them the most -perfect model to be copied by all the nations of the earth. China was -to them what England, and subsequently the United States, became for -all Frenchmen. They expressed their emotion and enchantment at the -aspect of a country, whose sovereign, absolute but unprejudiced, drives -a furrow once a year with his own hands in honour of the useful arts; -where all public employments are obtained by competitive examination, -and which has a system of philosophy for its religion, and men of -letters for its aristocracy. - -It is supposed that the destructive theories which are designated -in our times by the name of _socialism_ are of recent origin: this, -again, is a mistake; these theories are contemporary with the first -French school of economists. Whilst they were intent on employing the -all-powerful government they had conceived in order to change the form -of society, other writers grasped in imagination the same power to -subvert its foundations. - -In the _Code de la Nature_, by Morelly, will be found, side by side -with the doctrines of the economists on the omnipotence and unlimited -rights of the State, several of the political theories which have most -alarmed the French nation in these later times, and which are supposed -to have been born before our eyes--community of goods, the right to -labour, absolute equality of conditions, uniformity in all things, a -mechanical regularity in all the movements of individuals, a tyranny to -regulate every action of daily life, and the complete absorption of the -personality of each member of the community into the whole social body. - -‘Nothing in society shall belong in singular property to any one,’ -says the first article of this code. ‘Property is detestable, and -whosoever shall attempt to re-establish it, shall be shut up for life, -as a maniac or an enemy of mankind. Every citizen is to be supported, -maintained, and employed at the public expense,’ says Article II. ‘All -productions are to be stored in public magazines, to be distributed to -the citizens and to supply their daily wants. Towns will be erected on -the same plan; all private dwellings or buildings will be alike; at -five years of age all children will be taken from their parents and -brought up in common at the cost of the State and in a uniform manner.’ - -Such a book might have been written yesterday: it is a hundred years -old. It appeared in 1755, at the very time when Quesnay founded his -school. So true it is that centralisation and socialism are products of -the same soil; they are to each other what the grafted tree is to the -wild stock. - -Of all the men of their time, these economists are those who would -appear most at home in our own; their passion for equality is so -strong, and their taste for freedom is so questionable, that one might -fancy they are our contemporaries. In reading the speeches and the -books of the men who figured in the Revolution of 1789, we are suddenly -transported into a place and a state of society quite unknown to us; -but in perusing the books of this school of economists one may fancy -we have been living with these people, and have just been talking with -them. - -About the year 1750 the whole French nation would not have been -disposed to exact a larger amount of political freedom than the -economists themselves. The taste and even the notion of freedom had -perished with the use of it. The nation desired reform rather than -rights; and if there had been at that time on the throne of France a -sovereign of the energy and the character of Frederick the Great, I -doubt not that he would have accomplished in society and in government -many of the great changes which have been brought about by the -Revolution, and this not only without the loss of his crown, but with -a considerable augmentation of his power. It is said that one of the -ablest ministers of Louis XV., M. de Machault, had a glimpse of this -idea, and imparted it to his master; but such undertakings are not the -result of advice: to be able to perform them a man must have been able -to conceive them. - -Twenty years later the state of things was changed. A vision of -political freedom had visited the mind of France, and was every -day becoming more attractive, as may be inferred from a variety of -symptoms. The provinces began to conceive the desire to manage once -more their own affairs. The notion that the whole people has a right -to take part in the government diffused itself and took possession of -the public. Recollections of the old States-General were revived. The -nation, which detested its own history, recalled no other part of it -with pleasure but this. This fresh current of opinion bore away the -economists themselves, and compelled them to encumber their Unitarian -system with some free institutions. - -When, in 1771, the Parliaments were destroyed, the same public, which -had so often suffered from their prejudices, was deeply affected by -their fall. It seemed as if with them fell the last barrier which could -still restrain the arbitrary power of the Crown. - -This opposition astonished and irritated Voltaire. ‘Almost all the -kingdom is in a state of effervescence and consternation,’ he wrote to -one of his friends; ‘the ferment is as great in the provinces as at -Paris itself. Yet this edict seems to be full of useful reforms. To -abolish the sale of public offices, to render the administration of -justice gratuitous, to prevent suitors from coming from all corners -of the kingdom to Paris to ruin themselves there, to charge the Crown -with the payment of the expenses of the seignorial jurisdictions--are -not these great services rendered to the nation? These Parliaments, -moreover, have they not been often barbarous and persecutors? I am -really amazed at the out-of-the-way people who take the part of these -insolent and indocile citizens. For my own part I think the King right; -and since we must serve, I think it better to serve under a lion born -of a good family, and who is by birth much stronger than I am, than -under two hundred rats of my own condition.’ And he adds, by way of -excuse, ‘Remember that I am bound to appreciate highly the favour the -King has conferred on all the lords of manors, by undertaking to pay -the expenses of their jurisdictions.’ - -Voltaire, who had long been absent from Paris, imagined that public -opinion still remained at the point where he had left it. But he was -mistaken. The French people no longer confined themselves to the desire -that their affairs should be better conducted; they began to wish to -conduct their affairs themselves, and it was manifest that the great -Revolution, to which everything was contributing, would be brought -about not only with the assent of the people, but by their hands. - -From that moment, I believe that this radical Revolution, which was to -confound in common ruin all that was worst and all that was best in -the institutions and condition of France, became inevitable. A people -so ill-prepared to act for themselves could not undertake a universal -and simultaneous reform without a universal destruction. An absolute -sovereign would have been a less dangerous innovator. For myself, -when I reflect that this same Revolution, which destroyed so many -institutions, opinions, and habits adverse to freedom, also destroyed -so many of those things without which freedom can hardly exist, I -incline to the belief that had it been wrought by a despot it would -perhaps have left the French nation less unfit one day to become a free -people, than wrought as it was by the sovereignty of the people and by -the people themselves. - -What has here been said must never be lost sight of by those who would -understand the history of the French Revolution. - -When the love of the French for political freedom was awakened, they -had already conceived a certain number of notions on matters of -government, which not only did not readily ally themselves with the -existence of free institutions, but which were almost contrary to them. - -They had accepted as the ideal of society a people having no -aristocracy but that of its public officers, a single and all-powerful -administration, directing the affairs of State, protecting those of -private persons. Meaning to be free, they by no means meant to deviate -from this first conception: only they attempted to reconcile it with -that of freedom. - -They, therefore, undertook to combine an unlimited administrative -centralisation with a preponderating legislative body--the -administration of a bureaucracy with the government of electors. The -nation as a whole had all the rights of sovereignty; each citizen -taken singly was thrust into the strictest dependence; the former -was expected to display the experience and the virtues of a free -people--the latter the qualities of a faithful servant. - -This desire of introducing political freedom in the midst of -institutions and opinions essentially alien or adverse to it, but which -were already established in the habits or sanctioned by the taste of -the French themselves, is the main cause of the abortive attempts at -free government which have succeeded each other in France for more -than sixty years; and which have been followed by such disastrous -revolutions, that, wearied by so many efforts, disgusted by so, -laborious and so sterile a work, abandoning their second intentions for -their original aim, many Frenchmen have arrived at the conclusion that -to live as equals under a master is after all not without some charm. -Thus it is that the French of the present day are infinitely more -similar to the Economists of 1750 than to their fathers in 1789. - -I have often asked myself what is the source of that passion for -political freedom which in all ages has been the fruitful mother of the -greatest things which mankind have achieved--and in what feelings that -passion strikes root and finds its nourishment. - -It is evident that when nations are ill directed they soon conceive the -wish to govern themselves; but this love of independence, which only -springs up under the influence of certain transient evils produced by -despotism, is never lasting: it passes away with the accident that gave -rise to it; and what seemed to be the love of freedom was no more than -the hatred of a master. That which nations made to be free really hate -is the curse of dependence. - -Nor do I believe that the true love of freedom is ever born of the -mere aspect of its material advantages; for this aspect may frequently -happen to be overcast. It is very true that in the long run freedom -ever brings, to those who know how to keep it, ease, comfort, and often -wealth; but there are times at which it disturbs for a season the -possession of these blessings; there are other times when despotism -alone can confer the ephemeral enjoyment of them. The men who prize -freedom only for such things as these are not men who ever long -preserved it. - -That which at all times has so strongly attached the affection of -certain men is the attraction of freedom itself, its native charms -independent of its gifts--the pleasure of speaking, acting, and -breathing without restraint, under no master but God and the law. He -who seeks in freedom aught but herself is fit only to serve. - -There are nations which have indefatigably pursued her through every -sort of peril and hardship. They loved her not for her material gifts; -they regard herself as a gift so precious and so necessary that no -other could console them for the loss of that which consoles them for -the loss of everything else. Others grow weary of freedom in the midst -of their prosperities; they allow her to be snatched without resistance -from their hands, lest they should sacrifice by an effort that -well-being which she had bestowed upon them. For them to remain free, -nothing was wanting but a taste for freedom. I attempt no analysis of -that lofty sentiment to those who feel it not. It enters of its own -accord into the large hearts God has prepared to receive it; it fills -them, it enraptures them; but to the meaner minds which have never felt -it, it is past finding out. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI. - - SHOWING THAT THE REIGN OF LOUIS XVI. WAS THE MOST PROSPEROUS EPOCH OF - THE OLD FRENCH MONARCHY, AND HOW THIS VERY PROSPERITY ACCELERATED - THE REVOLUTION. - - -It cannot be doubted that the exhaustion of the kingdom under Louis -XIV. began long before the reverses of that monarch. The first -indication of it is to be perceived in the most glorious years of his -reign. France was ruined long before she had ceased to conquer. Vauban -left behind him an alarming essay on the administrative statistics of -his time. The Intendants of the provinces, in the reports addressed by -them to the Duke of Burgundy at the close of the seventeenth century, -and before the disastrous War of the Spanish Succession had begun, all -alluded to the gradual decline of the nation, and they speak of it not -as a very recent occurrence: ‘The population has considerably decreased -in this district,’ says one of them. ‘This town, formerly so rich and -flourishing, is now without employment,’ says another. Or again: ‘There -have been manufactures in this province, but they are now abandoned;’ -or, ‘The farmers formerly raised much more from the soil than they do -at present; agriculture was in a far better condition twenty years -ago.’ ‘Population and production have diminished by about one-fifth -in the last thirty years,’ said an Intendant of Orleans at the same -period. The perusal of these reports might be recommended to those -persons who are favourable to absolute government, and to those princes -who are fond of war. - -As these hardships had their chief source in the evils of the -constitution, the death of Louis XIV., and even the restoration of -peace, did not restore the prosperity of the nation. It was the general -opinion of all those who wrote on the art of government or on social -economy in the first half of the eighteenth century, that the provinces -were not recovering themselves; many even thought that their ruin was -progressive. Paris alone, they said, grows in wealth and in extent. -Intendants, ex-ministers, and men of business were of the same opinion -on this point as men of letters. - -For myself, I confess that I do not believe in this continuous decline -of France throughout the first half of the eighteenth century; but an -opinion so generally entertained amongst persons so well informed, -proves at least that the country was making at that time no visible -progress. All the administrative records connected with this period of -the history of France which have fallen under my observation denote, -indeed, a sort of lethargy in the community. The government continued -to revolve in the orbit of routine without inventing any new thing; -the towns made scarcely an effort to render the condition of their -inhabitants more comfortable or more wholesome; even in private life no -considerable enterprise was set on foot. - -About thirty or forty years before the Revolution broke out the scene -began to change. It seemed as if a sort of inward perturbation, not -remarked before, thrilled through the social frame. At first none but -a most attentive eye could discern it; but gradually this movement -became more characterised and more distinct. Year by year it gained in -rapidity and in extent; the nation stirs, and seems about to rise once -more. But, beware! It is not the old life of France which re-animates -her. The breath of a new life pervades the mighty body, but pervades it -only to complete its dissolution. Restless and agitated in their own -condition, all classes are straining for something else; to better that -condition is the universal desire, but this desire is so feverish and -wayward that it leads men to curse the past, and to conceive a state of -society altogether the reverse of that which lies before them. - -Nor was it long before the same spirit penetrated to the heart of the -Government. The Government was thus internally transformed without any -external, alteration; the laws of the kingdom were unchanged, but they -were differently applied. - -I have elsewhere remarked that the Comptrollers-General and the -Intendants of 1760 had no resemblance to the same officers in 1780. The -correspondence of the public offices demonstrates this fact in detail. -Yet the Intendant of 1780 had the same powers, the same agents, the -same arbitrary authority as his predecessor, but not the same purposes; -the only care of the former was to keep his province in a state of -obedience, to raise the militia, above all to collect the taxes; -the latter has very different views, his head is full of a thousand -schemes for the augmentation of the wealth of the nation. Roads, -canals, manufactures, commerce, are the chief objects of his thoughts; -agriculture more particularly attracts his notice. Sully came into -fashion amongst the administrators of that age. - -Then it was that they began to form the agricultural societies, which I -have already mentioned; they established exhibitions, they distributed -prizes. Some of the circulars of the Comptrollers-General were more -like treatises on husbandry than official correspondence. - -In the collection of all the taxes the change which had come over the -mind of the governing body was especially perceptible. The existing law -was still unfair, arbitrary and harsh, as it had long been, but all its -defects were mitigated in the application of it. - -‘When I began to study our fiscal laws,’ says M. Mollien,[72] in his -Memoirs, ‘I was terrified by what I found there: fines, imprisonment, -corporal punishment, were placed at the disposal of exceptional courts -for mere oversights; the clerks of the revenue farms had almost all -property and persons in their power, subject to the discretion of their -oaths. Fortunately I did not confine myself to the mere perusal of this -code, and I soon had occasion to find out that between the text of the -law and its application there was the same difference as between the -manners of the old and the new race of financiers.’ - -‘The collection of taxes may undoubtedly give rise to infinite abuses -and annoyances,’ said the Provincial Assembly of Lower Normandy in -1787; ‘we must, however, do justice to the gentleness and consideration -with which these powers have been exercised for some years past.’ - -The examination of public records fully bears out this assertion. -They frequently show a genuine respect for the life and liberty of -man, and more especially a sincere commiseration for the sufferings -of the poor, which before would have been sought for in vain. Acts of -violence committed by the fiscal officers on paupers had become rare; -remissions of taxation were more frequent, relief more abundant. The -King augmented all the funds intended to establish workshops of charity -in the rural districts, or to assist the indigent, and he often founded -new ones. Thus more than 80,000 livres were distributed by the State -in this manner in the district of Upper Guienne alone in 1779; 40,000 -in 1784 in that of Tours; 48,000 in that of Normandy in 1787. Louis -XVI. did not leave this portion of the duties of government to his -Ministers only; he sometimes took it upon himself. When in 1776, an -edict of the Crown fixed the compensation due to the peasantry whose -fields were devastated by the King’s game in the neighbourhood of the -Royal seats, and established a simple and certain method of enforcing -the payment of it, the King himself drew the preamble of the decree. -Turgot relates that this virtuous and unfortunate Prince handed the -paper to him with these words: ‘You see that I too have been at work.’ -If we were to pourtray the Government of the old French monarchy such -as it was in the last years of its existence, the image would be too -highly flattered and too unlike the reality. - -As these changes were brought about in the minds of the governing class -and of the governed, the prosperity of the nation expanded with a -rapidity heretofore unknown. It was announced by numerous symptoms: the -population largely augmented; the wealth of the country augmented more -largely still. The American War did not arrest this movement; the State -was embarrassed by it, but the community continued to enrich itself by -becoming more industrious, more enterprising, more inventive. - -‘Since 1774,’ says one of the members of the administration of that -time, ‘different kinds of industry have by their extension enlarged -the area of taxation on all commodities. ‘If we compare the terms of -arrangement agreed upon at different periods of the reign of Louis -XVI. between the State and the financial companies which farmed the -public revenue, the rate of payment will be found to have risen at each -renewal with increasing rapidity. The farm of 1786 produced fourteen -millions more than that of 1780. ‘It may be reckoned that the produce -of duties on consumption is increasing at the rate of two millions per -annum,’ said Necker, in his Report of 1781. - -Arthur Young declared that, in 1788, Bordeaux carried on a larger trade -than Liverpool. He adds: ‘Latterly the progress of maritime commerce -has been more rapid in France than in England; trade has doubled there -in the last twenty years.’ - -With due regard to the difference of the times we are speaking of, it -may be established that in no one of the periods which have followed -the Revolution of 1789 has the national prosperity of France augmented -more rapidly than it did in the twenty years preceding that event.[73] -The period of thirty-seven years of the constitutional monarchy of -France, which were times of peace and progress, can alone be compared -in this respect to the reign of Louis XVI. - -The aspect of this prosperity, already so great and so rapidly -increasing, may well be matter of surprise, if we think of all the -defects which the Government of France still included, and all the -restrictions against which the industry of the nation had still to -contend. Perhaps there may be politicians who, unable to explain the -fact, deny it, being of the opinion of Molière’s physician that a -patient cannot recover against the rules of art. How are we to believe -that France prospered and grew rich with unequal taxation, with a -diversity of customary law, with internal custom-houses, with feudal -rights, with guilds, with purchased offices, &c.? In spite of all this, -France was beginning to grow rich and expand on every side, because -within all this clumsy and ill-regulated machinery, which seemed -calculated to check rather than to impel the social engine, two simple -and powerful springs were concealed, which, already, sufficed to keep -the fabric together, and to drive it along in the direction of public -prosperity--a Government which was still powerful enough to maintain -order throughout the kingdom, though it had ceased to be despotic; a -nation which, in its upper classes, was already the most enlightened -and the most free on the continent of Europe, and in which every man -could enrich himself after his own fashion and preserve the fortune he -had once acquired. - -The King still spoke the language of an arbitrary ruler, but in reality -he himself obeyed that public opinion which inspired or influenced -him day by day, and which he constantly consulted, flattered, feared; -absolute by the letter of the laws, limited by their application. -As early as 1784, Necker said in a public document as a thing not -disputed: ‘Most foreigners are unable to form an idea of the authority -now exercised in France by public opinion; they can hardly understand -what is that invisible power which makes itself obeyed even in the -King’s palace; yet such is the fact.’ - -Nothing is more superficial than to attribute the greatness and the -power of a people exclusively to the mechanism of its laws; for, in -this respect, the result is obtained not so much by the perfection of -the engine as by the amount of the propelling power. Look at England, -whose administrative laws still at the present day appear so much more -complicated, more anomalous, more irregular, than those of France![74] -Yet is there a country in Europe where the national wealth is greater, -where private property is more extended, varied, and secure, or where -society is more stable and more rich? This is not caused by the -excellence of any laws in particular, but by the spirit which pervades -the whole legislation of England. The imperfection of certain organs -matters nothing, because the whole is instinct with life. - -As the prosperity, which I have just described, began to extend -in France, the community nevertheless became more unsettled and -uneasy; public discontent grew fierce; hatred against all established -institutions increased. The nation was visibly advancing towards a -revolution. - -Nay, more, those parts of France which were about to become the chief -centres of this revolution were precisely the parts of the territory -where the work of improvement was most perceptible. An examination -of what remains of the archives of the ancient circumscription of -the Ile de France readily shows that the abuses of the monarchy had -been soonest and most effectually reformed in the immediate vicinity -of Paris.[75] There, the liberty and property of the peasants were -already better secured than in any other of what were termed the _pays -d’élection_. Personal forced service had disappeared long before 1789. -The _taille_ was levied with greater regularity, moderation, and -fairness than in any other part of France. The ordinance made in 1772 -for the amelioration of this tax in this district is a striking proof -of what an Intendant could do for the advantage or for the misery of a -whole province. As seen through this document, the aspect of the tax -was already changed. Government commissioners were to proceed every -year to each parish; the community was to assemble before them; the -value of the taxable property was to be publicly established, and the -resources of every tax-payer to be ascertained in his presence; in -short, the _taille_ was assessed with the assent of all those who had -to pay it. The arbitrary powers of the village syndic, the unprofitable -violence of the fiscal officers, were at an end. The _taille_ no doubt -retained its inherent defects under any system of collection: it -lighted upon but one class of taxpayers, and lay as heavy on industry -as upon property; but in all other respects it widely differed from -that which still bore the same name in the neighbouring divisions of -the territory. - -Nowhere, on the contrary, were the institutions of the whole monarchy -less changed than on the banks of the Loire, near the mouths of that -river, in the marshes of Poitou and the heaths of Brittany. Yet there -it was that the fire of civil war was kindled and kept alive, and that -the fiercest and longest resistance was opposed to the Revolution; so -that it might be said that the French found their position the more -intolerable the better it became. Surprising as this fact is, history -is full of such contradictions. - -It is not always by going from bad to worse that a country falls into -a revolution. It happens most frequently that a people, which had -supported the most crushing laws without complaint, and apparently -as if they were unfelt, throws them off with violence as soon as the -burden begins to be diminished. The state of things destroyed by a -revolution is almost always somewhat better than that which immediately -preceded it; and experience has shown that the most dangerous moment -for a bad government is usually that when it enters upon the work of -reform. Nothing short of great political genius can save a sovereign -who undertakes to relieve his subjects after a long period of -oppression. The evils which were endured with patience so long as they -were inevitable seem intolerable as soon as a hope can be entertained -of escaping from them. The abuses which are removed seem to lay bare -those which remain, and to render the sense of them more acute; the -evil has decreased, it is true, but the perception of the evil is more -keen. Feudalism in all its strength had not inspired as much aversion -to the French as it did on the eve of its disappearance. The slightest -arbitrary proceedings of Louis XVI. seemed more hard to bear than all -the despotism of Louis XIV.[76] The brief detention of Beaumarchais -produced more excitement in Paris than the Dragonnades. - -No one any longer contended in 1780 that France was in a state of -decline; there seemed, on the contrary, to be just then no bounds -to her progress. Then it was that the theory of the continual and -indefinite perfectibility of man took its origin. Twenty years before -nothing was to be hoped of the future: then nothing was to be feared. -The imagination, grasping at this near and unheard-of felicity, caused -men to overlook the advantages they already possessed, and hurried them -forward to something new. - -Independently of these general reasons, there were other causes of this -phenomenon which were more peculiar and not less powerful. Although -the financial administration had improved with everything else, it -still retained the vices which are inherent in absolute government. -As the financial department was secret and uncontrolled, many of the -worst practices which had prevailed under Louis XIV. and Louis XV. were -still followed. The very efforts which the Government made to augment -the public prosperity--the relief and the rewards it distributed--the -public works it caused to be executed--continually increased the -expenditure without adding to the revenue in the same proportion; -hence the King was continually thrown into embarrassments greater than -those of his predecessors. Like them, he left his creditors unpaid; -like them, he borrowed in all directions, but without publicity and -without competition, and the creditors of the Crown were never sure of -receiving their interest; even their capital was always at the mercy of -the sovereign. - -A witness worthy of credit, for he had seen these things with his own -eyes and was better qualified than any other person to see them well, -remarks on this subject:--‘The French were exposed to nothing but risks -in their relations with their own Government. If they placed their -capital in the State stocks, they could never reckon with certainty on -the payment of interest to a given day; if they built ships, repaired -the roads, clothed the army, they had nothing to cover their advance -and no certainty of repayment, so that they were reduced to calculate -the chances of a Government contract as if it were a loan on terms -of the utmost risk.’ And the same person adds, very judiciously: ‘At -this time, when the rapid growth of industry had developed amongst a -larger number of men the love of property and the taste and the desire -of comfort, those who had entrusted a portion of their property to the -State were the more impatient of a breach of contract on the part of -that creditor who was especially bound to fulfil his obligations.’ - -The abuses which are here imputed to the French administration were not -at all new; what was new was the impression they produced. The vices -of the financial system had even been far more crying in former times; -but changes had taken place in Government and in society which rendered -them infinitely more perceptible than they were of old. - -The Government, having become more active in the last twenty years, -and having embarked in every species of undertaking which it had never -thought of before, was at last become the greatest consumer of the -produce of industry and the greatest contractor of public works in the -kingdom. The number of persons who had pecuniary transactions with the -State, who were interested in Government loans, lived by Government -wages, or speculated in Government contracts, had prodigiously -increased. Never before had the fortune of the nation and the fortunes -of private persons been so much intermingled. The mismanagement of -the public finances, which had long been no more than a public evil, -thus became to a multitude of families a private calamity. In 1789 -the State was indebted nearly 600 millions of francs to creditors who -were almost all in debt themselves, and who inoculated with their own -dissatisfaction against the Government all those whom the irregularity -of the public Treasury caused to participate in their embarrassments. -And it must be observed, that as malcontents of this class became -more numerous, they also became more exasperated; for the love of -speculation, the thirst for wealth, the taste for comfort, having grown -and extended in proportion to the business transacted, the same evils -which they might have endured thirty years before without complaint now -appeared altogether insupportable. - -Hence it arose that the fundholders, the traders, the manufacturers, -and other persons engaged in business or in monetary affairs, who -generally form the class most hostile to political innovation, the most -friendly to existing governments, whatever they may be, and the most -submissive to the laws even when they despise and detest them, were on -this occasion the class most eager and resolute for reform. They loudly -demanded a complete revolution in the whole system of finance, without -reflecting that to touch this part of the Government was to cause every -other part to fall. - -How could such a catastrophe be averted? On the one hand, a nation in -which the desire of making fortunes extended every day--on the other, -a Government which incessantly excited this passion, which agitated, -inflamed, and beggared the nation, driving by either path on its own -destruction. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[72] [Count Mollien was educated in the fiscal service of the old -monarchy, and after having escaped the perils of the Revolution -he became Minister of the Treasury to the Emperor Napoleon, and -under the Restoration a Peer of France. He left Memoirs of his -Administration, which have been printed for private circulation by his -widow, the estimable Countess Mollien, in four volumes octavo, but -not yet published. These Memoirs are a model of personal integrity -and financial judgment, the more remarkable as it was the fate of -M. Mollien to live in times when these qualities were equally rare. -The work was reviewed in the ‘Quarterly Review,’ 1849-1850, and this -article was republished in 1872, in Mr. Reeve’s ‘Royal and Republican -France.’] - -[73] See Note LXVI., Progress of France. - -[74] See Note LXVII., Judicial Institutions of England. - -[75] See Note LXVIII., Privileges of the District of Paris. - -[76] See Note LXIX. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII. - - SHOWING THAT THE FRENCH PEOPLE WERE EXCITED TO REVOLT BY THE MEANS - TAKEN TO RELIEVE THEM. - -As the common people of France had not appeared for one single moment -on the theatre of public affairs for upwards of one hundred and forty -years, no one any longer imagined that they could ever again resume -their position. They appeared unconscious, and were therefore believed -to be deaf; accordingly, those who began to take an interest in their -condition talked about them in their presence just as if they had not -been there. It seemed as if these remarks could only be heard by those -who were placed above the common people, and that the only danger to be -apprehended was that they might not be fully understood by the upper -classes. - -The very men who had most to fear from the fury of the people declaimed -loudly in their presence on the cruel injustice under which the people -had always suffered. They pointed out to each other the monstrous vices -of those institutions which had weighed most heavily upon the lower -orders: they employed all their powers of rhetoric in depicting the -miseries of the common people and their ill-paid labour; and thus they -infuriated while they endeavoured to relieve them. I do not speak of -the writers, but of the Government, of its chief agents, and of those -belonging to the privileged class itself. - -When the King, thirteen years before the Revolution, tried to abolish -the use of compulsory labour, he said, in the preamble to this decree, -‘With the exception of a small number of provinces (the _pays d’état_), -almost all the roads throughout the kingdom have been made by the -gratuitous labour of the poorest part of our subjects. Thus the whole -burden has fallen on those who possess nothing but their hands, and who -are interested only in a secondary degree in the existence of roads; -those really interested are the landowners, nearly all privileged -persons, whose estates are increased in value by the construction of -roads. By forcing the poor to keep them up unaided, and by compelling -them to give their time and labour without remuneration, they are -deprived of their sole resource against want and hunger, because they -are made to labour for the profit of the rich.’ - -When, at the same period, an attempt was made to abolish the -restrictions which the system of trading companies or guilds imposed -on artisans, it was proclaimed, in the King’s name, ‘that the right to -work is the most sacred of all possessions; that every law by which -it is infringed violates the natural rights of man, and is null and -void in itself; that the existing corporations are moreover grotesque -and tyrannical institutions, the result of selfishness, avarice, and -violence.’ Such words as these were dangerous, no doubt, but, what was -infinitely more so, was that they were spoken in vain. A few months -later the corporations and the system of compulsory labour were again -established. - -It is said that Turgot was the Minister who put this language into the -King’s mouth, but most of Turgot’s successors made him hold no other. -When, in 1780, the King announced to his subjects that the increase of -the _taille_ would, for the future, be subject to public registration, -he took care to add, by way of commentary, ‘Those persons who are -subject to the _taille_, besides being harassed by the vexations -incident to its collection, have likewise hitherto been exposed to -unexpected augmentations of the tax, insomuch that the contributions -paid by the poorest part of our subjects have increased in a much -greater proportion than those paid by all the rest.’ When the King, -not yet venturing to place all the public burdens on an equal footing, -attempted at least to establish equality of taxation in those which -were already imposed on the middle class, he said, ‘His Majesty hopes -that rich persons will not consider themselves aggrieved by being -placed on the common level, and made to bear their part of a burden -which they ought long since to have shared more equally.’ - -But it was, above all, at periods of scarcity that nothing was left -untried to inflame the passions of the people far more than to provide -for their wants. In order to stimulate the charity of the rich, -one Intendant talked of ‘the injustice and insensibility of those -landowners who owe all they possess to the labours of the poor, and who -let them die of hunger at the very moment they are toiling to augment -the returns of landed property.’ The King, too, thus expressed himself -on a similar occasion: ‘His Majesty is determined to defend the people -against manœuvres which expose them to the want of the most needful -food, by forcing them to give their labour at any price that the rich -choose to bestow. The King will not suffer one part of his subjects to -be sacrificed to the avidity of the other.’ - -Until the very end of the monarchy the strife which subsisted among -the different administrative powers gave occasion for all sorts of -demonstrations of this kind; the contending parties readily imputed -to each other the miseries of the people. A strong instance of this -appeared in the quarrel which arose, in 1772, between the Parliament of -Toulouse and the King, with reference to the transport of grain. ‘The -Government, by its bad measures, places the poor in danger of dying of -hunger,’ said the Parliament. ‘The ambition of the Parliament and the -avidity of the rich are the cause of the general distress,’ retorted -the King. Thus both the parties were endeavouring to impress the minds -of the common people with the belief that their superiors are always to -blame for their sufferings. - -These things are not contained in the secret correspondence of the -time, but in public documents which the Government and the Parliaments -themselves took care to have printed and published by thousands. The -King took occasion incidentally to tell very harsh truths both to his -predecessors and to himself. ‘The treasure of the State,’ said he on -one occasion, ‘has been burdened by the lavish expenditure of several -successive reigns. Many of our inalienable domains have been granted -on leases at nominal rents.’ On another occasion he was made to say, -with more truth than prudence, ‘The privileged trading companies mainly -owed their origin to the fiscal avidity of the Crown.’ Farther on, -he remarked that ‘if useless expenses have often been incurred, and -if the _taille_ has increased beyond all bounds, it has been because -the Board of Finance found an increase of the _taille_ the easiest -resource inasmuch as it was clandestine, and was therefore employed, -although many other expedients would have been less burdensome to our -people.’[77] - -All this was addressed to the enlightened part of the nation, in -order to convince it of the utility of certain measures which private -interests rendered unpopular. As for the common people, it was assumed -that if they listened they did not understand. - -It must be admitted that at the bottom of all these charitable feelings -there remained a strong bias of contempt for these wretched beings -whose miseries the higher classes so sincerely wished to relieve: and -that we are somewhat reminded, by this display of compassion, of the -notion of Madame Duchâtelet, who, as Voltaire’s secretary tells us, did -not scruple to undress herself before her attendants, not thinking it -by any means proved that lackeys are men. And let it not be supposed -that Louis XVI. or his ministers were the only persons who held the -dangerous language which I have just cited; the privileged persons, who -were about to become the first objects of the popular fury, expressed -themselves in exactly the same manner before their inferiors. It must -be admitted that in France the higher classes of society had begun to -pay attention to the condition of the poor before they had any reason -to fear them; they interested themselves in their fate at a time when -they had not begun to believe that the sufferings of the poor were -the precursors of their own perdition. This was peculiarly visible -in the ten years which preceded 1789; the peasants were the constant -objects of compassion, their condition was continually discussed, the -means of affording them relief were examined, the chief abuses from -which they suffered were exposed, and the fiscal laws which pressed -most heavily upon them were condemned; but the manner in which this -new-born sympathy was expressed was as imprudent as the long-continued -insensibility which had preceded it. - -If we read the reports of the Provincial Assemblies which met in some -parts of France in 1779, and subsequently throughout the kingdom, and -if we study the other public records left by them, we shall be touched -by the generous sentiments expressed in them, and astonished at the -wonderful imprudence of the language in which they are expressed. - -The Provincial Assembly of Lower Normandy said, in 1787, ‘We have -too frequently seen the money destined by the King for roads serve -only to increase the prosperity of the rich without any benefit to -the people. It has often been employed to embellish the approach to -a country mansion instead of making a more convenient entrance to a -town or village.’ In the same assembly the Orders of nobility and -clergy, after describing the abuses of compulsory labour, spontaneously -offered to contribute out of their own funds 50,000 livres towards the -improvement of the roads, in order, as they said, that the roads of -the province might be made practicable without any further cost to the -people. It would probably have cost these privileged classes less to -abolish the compulsory system, and to substitute for it a general tax -of which they should pay their quota; but though willing to give up -the profit derived from inequality of taxation, they liked to maintain -the appearance of the privilege. While they gave up that part of their -rights which was profitable, they carefully retained that which was -odious. - -Other assemblies, composed entirely of landowners exempt from the -_taille_, and who fully intended to continue so, nevertheless depicted -in the darkest colours the hardships which the _taille_ inflicted on -the poor. They drew a frightful picture of all its abuses, which they -circulated in all directions. But the most singular part of the affair -is that to these strong marks of the interest they felt in the common -people, they from time to time added public expressions of contempt -for them. The people had already become the object of their sympathy -without having ceased to be the object of their disdain. - -The Provincial Assembly of Upper Guienne, speaking of the peasants -whose cause they so warmly pleaded, called them _coarse and ignorant -creatures, turbulent spirits, and rough and intractable characters_. -Turgot, who did so much for the people, seldom spoke of them -otherwise.[78] - -These harsh expressions were used in acts intended for the greatest -publicity, and meant to meet the eyes of the peasants themselves. It -seemed as though the framers of them imagined that they were living -in a country like Galicia, where the higher classes speak a different -language from the lower, and cannot be understood by them. The -feudalists of the eighteenth century, who frequently displayed towards -the ratepayers and others who owed them feudal services, a disposition -to indulgence, moderation, and justice, unknown to their predecessors, -still spoke occasionally of ‘vile peasants.’ These insults seem to have -been ‘in proper form,’ as the lawyers say. - -The nearer we approach towards 1789, the more lively and imprudent -does this sympathy with the hardships of the common people become. I -have held in my hands the circulars addressed by several Provincial -Assemblies in the very beginning of 1788 to the inhabitants of the -different parishes, calling upon them to state in detail all the -grievances of which they might have to complain. - -One of these circulars is signed by an abbé, a great lord, three -nobles, and a man of the middle class, all members of the Assembly, -and acting in its name. This committee directed the Syndic of each -parish to convoke all the peasants, and to inquire of them what they -had to say against the manner in which the various taxes which they -paid were assessed and collected. ‘We are generally aware,’ they say, -‘that most of the taxes, especially the _gabelle_ and the _taille_, -have disastrous consequences for the cultivators, but we are anxious to -be acquainted with every single abuse.’ The curiosity of the Provincial -Assembly did not stop there; it investigated the number of persons in -the parish enjoying any privileges with respect to taxes, whether -nobles, ecclesiastics, or _roturiers_, and the precise nature of these -privileges; the value of the property of those thus exempted; whether -or not they resided on their estates; whether there was much Church -property, or, as the phrase then was, land in mortmain, which was out -of the market, and its value. All this even was not enough to satisfy -them; they wanted to be told the share of duties, _taille_, additional -dues, poll-tax, and forced labour-rate which the privileged class would -have to pay, supposing equality of taxation existed. - -This was to inflame every man individually by the catalogue of his own -grievances; it pointed out to him the authors of his wrongs, emboldened -him by showing him how few they were in number, and fired his heart -with cupidity, envy, and hatred. It seemed as if the Jacquerie, the -Maillotins, and the Sixteen were totally forgotten, and that no one was -aware that the French people, which is the quietest and most kindly -disposed in the world, so long as it remains in its natural frame of -mind, becomes the most barbarous as soon as it is roused by violent -passions. - -Unfortunately I have not been able to procure all the returns sent in -by the peasants in reply to these fatal questions; but I have found -enough to show the general spirit which pervaded them. - -In these reports the name of every privileged person, whether of the -nobility or the middle class, is carefully mentioned; his mode of life -is frequently described, and always in an unfavourable manner. The -value of his property is curiously examined; the number and extent of -his privileges are insisted on at length, and especially the injury -they do to all the other inhabitants of the village. The bushels of -corn which have to be paid to him as dues are reckoned up; his income -is calculated in an envious tone--an income by which no one profits, -they say. The casual dues of the parish priest--his stipend, as it -was already called--are pronounced to be excessive; it is remarked -with bitterness that everything at church must be paid for, and that a -poor man cannot even get buried gratis. As to the taxes, they are all -unfairly assessed and oppressive; not one of them finds favour, and -they are all spoken of in a tone of violence which betrays exasperation. - -‘The indirect taxes are detestable,’ they say; ‘there is not a -household in which the clerk of the excise does not come and search, -nothing is sacred from his eyes and hands. The registration dues are -crushing. The collector of the _taille_ is a tyrant, whose rapacity -leads him to avail himself of every means of harassing the poor. The -bailiffs are no better; no honest farmer can be secure from their -ferocity. The collectors are forced to ruin their neighbours in order -to avoid exposing themselves to the voracity of these despots.’ - -The Revolution not only announces its approach in this inquiry; it is -already there, speaking its own proper language and showing its face -without disguise. - -Amid all the differences which exist between the religious Revolution -of the sixteenth century and the French Revolution of the eighteenth, -one contrast is peculiarly striking: in the sixteenth century most of -the great nobles changed their religion from motives of ambition or -cupidity; the people, on the contrary, from conviction and without any -hope of profit. In the eighteenth century the reverse was the case; -disinterested convictions and generous sympathies then agitated the -enlightened classes and incited them to revolution, while a bitter -feeling of their wrongs and an ardent desire to alter their position -excited the common people. The enthusiasm of the former put the last -stroke to inflaming and arming the rage and the desires of the latter. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[77] See Note LXX., Arbitrary Augmentation of Taxes. - -[78] See Note LXXI., Manner in which Turgot spoke of the Country People. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII. - - CONCERNING SOME PRACTICES BY WHICH THE GOVERNMENT COMPLETED THE - REVOLUTIONARY EDUCATION OF THE PEOPLE OF FRANCE. - - -The Government itself had long been at work to instil into and rivet -upon the mind of the common people many of the ideas which have been -called revolutionary--ideas hostile to individual liberty, opposed to -private rights, and favourable to violence. - -The King was the first to show with how much contempt it was possible -to treat the most ancient, and apparently the best established, -institutions. Louis XV. shook the monarchy and hastened the Revolution -quite as much by his innovations as by his vices, by his energy as -by his indolence. When the people beheld the fall and disappearance -of a Parliament almost contemporary with the monarchy itself, and -which had until then seemed as immovable as the throne, they vaguely -perceived that they were drawing near a time of violence and of chance -when everything may become possible, when nothing, however ancient, is -respected, and nothing, however new, may not be tried. - -During the whole course of his reign Louis XVI. did nothing but talk -of reforms to be accomplished. There are few institutions of which -he did not foreshadow the approaching ruin, before the Revolution -came to effect it. After removing from the statute-book some of the -worst of these institutions he very soon replaced them; it seemed -as if he wanted only to loosen their roots, leaving to others the -task of striking them down. By some of the reforms which he effected -himself, ancient and venerable customs were suddenly changed without -sufficient preparation, and established rights were occasionally -violated. These reforms prepared the way for the Revolution, not so -much by overthrowing the obstacles in its way, as by showing the people -how to set about making it. The evil was increased by the very purity -and disinterestedness of the intentions which actuated the King and -his ministers; for no example is more dangerous than that of violence -exerted for a good purpose by honest and well-meaning men. - -At a much earlier period Louis XIV. had publicly broached in his edicts -the theory that all the land throughout the kingdom had originally been -granted conditionally by the State, which was thus declared to be the -only true landowner, and that all others were possessors whose titles -might be contested, and whose rights were imperfect. This doctrine -had arisen out of the feudal system of legislation; but it was not -proclaimed in France until feudalism was dying out, and was never -adopted by the Courts of justice. It is, in fact, the germ of modern -socialism, and it is curious enough to see it first springing up under -royal despotism. - -During the reigns which followed that of Louis XIV., the administration -day by day instilled into the people in a manner still more practical -and comprehensible the contempt in which private property was to -be held. When during the latter half of the eighteenth century the -taste for public works, especially for roads, began to prevail, the -Government did not scruple to seize all the land needed for its -undertakings, and to pull down the houses which stood in the way. The -French Board of Works was already just as enamoured of the geometrical -beauty of straight lines as it has been ever since; it carefully -avoided following the existing roads if they were at all crooked, and -rather than make the slightest deviation it cut through innumerable -estates. The ground thus damaged or destroyed was never paid for but at -an arbitrary rate and after long delay, or frequently not at all.[79] - -When the Provincial Assembly of Lower Normandy took the administration -out of the hands of the Intendant, it was discovered that the price -of all the land seized by authority in the preceding twenty years for -making roads was still unpaid. The debt thus contracted by the State, -and not discharged, in this small corner of France, amounted to 250,000 -livres. The number of large proprietors thus injured was limited; but -the small ones who suffered were very numerous, for even then the land -was much subdivided.[80] Every one of these persons had learnt by his -own experience how little respect the rights of an individual can claim -when the interest of the public requires that they should be invaded--a -doctrine which he was not likely to forget when the time came for -applying it to others for his own advantage. - -In a great number of parishes charitable endowments had formerly -existed, destined by their founders to relieve the inhabitants in -certain cases, and in conformity to testamentary bequest. Most of these -endowments were destroyed during the later days of the monarchy, or -diverted from their original objects by mere Orders in Council, that is -to say, by the arbitrary act of Government. In most instances the funds -thus left to particular villages were taken from them for the benefit -of neighbouring hospitals. At the same time the property of these -hospitals was in its turn diverted to purposes which the founder had -never had in view, and would undoubtedly not have approved. An edict -of 1780 authorised all these establishments to sell the lands which -had been devised to them at various times to be held by them for ever, -and permitted them to hand over the purchase-money to the State, which -was to pay the interest upon it. This, they said, was making a better -use of the charity of their forefathers than they had done themselves. -They forgot that the surest way of teaching mankind to violate the -rights of the living is to pay no regard to the will of the dead. The -contempt displayed by the Administration of the old French monarchy for -testamentary dispositions has never been surpassed by any succeeding -power. Nothing could be more unlike the scrupulous anxiety which leads -the English to invest every individual citizen with the force of the -whole social body in order to assist him in maintaining the effect of -his last dispositions, and which induces them to pay even more respect -to his memory than to himself. - -Compulsory requisitions, the forced sale of provisions, and the -maximum, are measures not without their precedents under the old -monarchy. I have discovered instances in which the officers of -Government, during periods of scarcity, fixed beforehand the price -of the provisions which the peasants brought to market; and when the -latter stayed away from fear of this constraint, ordinances were -promulgated to compel them to come under penalty of a fine. - -But nothing taught a more pernicious lesson than some of the forms -adopted by criminal justice when the common people were in question. -The poor were even then far better protected than has generally been -supposed against the aggressions of any citizen richer or more powerful -than themselves; but when they had to do with the State, they found -only, as I have already described, exceptional tribunals, prejudiced -judges, a hasty and illusory procedure, and a sentence executed -summarily and without appeal. ‘The Provost of the Constables and his -lieutenant are to take cognisance of the disturbances and gatherings -which may be occasioned by the scarcity of corn; the prosecution is to -take place in due form, and judgment to be passed by the Provost, and -without appeal. His Majesty inhibits the jurisdiction of all courts of -justice in these cases.’ We learn by the Reports of the Constables, -that on these occasions suspected villages were surrounded during the -night, that houses were entered before daybreak, and peasants who -had been denounced were arrested without further warrant. A man thus -arrested frequently remained for a long time in prison before he could -speak to his judge, although the edicts directed that every accused -person should be examined within four-and-twenty hours. This regulation -was as precise and as little respected then as it is now. - -By these means a mild and stable government daily taught the people the -code of criminal procedure most appropriate to a period of revolution, -and best adapted to arbitrary power. These lessons were constantly -before their eyes; and to the very last the old monarchy gave the lower -classes this dangerous education. Even Turgot himself, in this respect, -faithfully imitated his predecessors. When, in 1775, his change in the -corn-laws occasioned resistance in the Parliament and disturbances -in the rural districts, he obtained a Royal ordonnance transferring -the mutineers from the jurisdiction of the tribunals to that of the -Provost-Marshal, ‘which is chiefly destined,’ so the phrase runs, ‘to -repress popular tumults when it is desirable that examples should be -quickly made.’ Nay, worse than this, every peasant leaving his parish -without being provided with a certificate signed by the parish priest -and by the Syndic, was to be prosecuted, arrested, and tried before the -Provost-Marshal as a vagabond. - -It is true that under this monarchy of the eighteenth century, though -the forms of procedure were terrific, the punishment was almost always -light. The object was to inspire fear rather than to inflict pain; or -rather, perhaps, those in power were violent and arbitrary from habit -or from indifference, and mild by temperament. But this only increased -the taste for this summary kind of justice. The lighter the penalty the -more readily was the manner forgotten in which it had been pronounced. -The mildness of the sentence served to veil the horror of the mode of -procedure. - -I may venture to affirm, from the facts I have in my possession, that a -great number of the proceedings adopted by the Revolutionary Government -had precedents and examples in the measures taken with regard to the -common people during the last two centuries of the monarchy. The -monarchy gave to the Revolution many of its forms; the latter only -added to them the atrocity of its own spirit. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[79] See Note LXXII., Growth of Revolutionary Opinions under the Old -Monarchy. - -[80] See Note LXXIII. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX. - - SHOWING THAT A GREAT ADMINISTRATIVE REVOLUTION HAD PRECEDED THE - POLITICAL REVOLUTION, AND WHAT WERE THE CONSEQUENCES IT PRODUCED. - - -Nothing had yet been changed in the form of the French Government, -but already the greater part of the secondary laws which regulated -the condition of persons and the administration of affairs had been -abolished or modified. - -The destruction of the Guilds, followed by their partial and incomplete -restoration, had totally changed all the old relations between workmen -and their employers. These relations had become not only different, but -uncertain and difficult. The police of the masters was at an end; the -authority of the State over the trades was imperfectly established; and -the artisan, placed in a constrained and undecided position between the -Government and his employer, did not know to whom he was to look for -protection, or from whom he was to submit to restraint. This state of -discontent and anarchy, into which the whole lower class of the towns -had been plunged at one blow, produced very great consequences as soon -as the people began to reappear on the political stage. - -One year before the Revolution a Royal edict had disturbed the order -of the administration of justice in all its parts; several new -jurisdictions had been created, a multitude of others abolished, and -all the rules of judicial competence changed. Now in France, as I have -already shown, the number of persons engaged in administering justice -and in executing the sentences of the law was enormous. In fact, it may -be said that the whole of the middle class was more or less connected -with the tribunals. The effect of this law, therefore, was to unsettle -the station and property of thousands of families, and to place them in -a new and precarious position. The edict was little less inconvenient -to litigants, who found it difficult, in the midst of this judicial -revolution, to discover what laws were applicable to their cases, and -by what tribunals they were to be decided. - -But it was the radical reform which the Administration, properly so -called, underwent in 1787, which more than all the rest first threw -public affairs into disorder, and shook the private existence of every -individual citizen. - -I have already mentioned that in what were termed the _pays -d’élection_, that is to say, in about three-quarters of France, the -whole administration of each district was abandoned to one man, the -Intendant, who acted not only without control, but without advice. - -In 1787, in addition to the Intendant, a Provincial Assembly was -created, which assumed the real administration of the country. In each -village an elective municipal body likewise took the place of the -ancient parochial assemblies, and in most cases of the Syndic. - -A state of the law so opposed to that which had preceded it, and which -so completely changed not only the whole course of affairs, but the -relative position of persons, was applied in all places at the same -moment and almost in the same manner, without the slightest regard to -previous usages or to the peculiar situation of each province, so fully -had the passion for unity which characterised the Revolution taken -possession of the ancient Government, which the Revolution was about to -destroy. - -These changes served to display the force of habit in the action of -political institutions, and to show how much easier it is to deal with -obscure and complicated laws, which have long been in use, than with a -totally new system of legislation, however simple. - -Under the old French monarchy there existed all sorts of authorities, -which varied almost infinitely, according to the provinces; but as -none of these authorities had any fixed or definite limits, the -field of action of each of them was always common to several others -besides. Nevertheless, affairs had come to be transacted with a -certain regularity and convenience; whereas the newly established -authorities, which were fewer in number, carefully circumscribed, and -exactly similar, instantly conflicted and became entangled in hopeless -confusion, frequently reducing each other mutually to impotence. - -Moreover the new law had one great vice which in itself would have -sufficed, especially at first, to render it difficult of execution: all -the powers it created were collective[81] or corporate. - -Under the old monarchy there had been only two methods of -administration. Where the administration was entrusted to one man, he -acted without the assistance of any assembly; wherever assemblies -existed, as in the _pays d’état_ or in the towns, the executive power -was not vested in any particular person; the Assembly not only governed -and superintended the administration, but administered itself, or by -means of temporary commissions which it appointed. - -As these were the only two modes of operation which were then -understood, when one was given up the other was adopted. It is -strange that in the midst of a community so enlightened, and where -the administration of the Government had long played so prominent a -part, no one ever thought of uniting the two systems and of drawing a -distinction, without making a separation, between the power which has -to execute and that which superintends and directs. This idea, which -appears so simple, never occurred to any one; it was not discovered -until the present century, and may be said to be the only great -invention in the field of public administration which we can claim. -We shall see hereafter the results of the contrary practice when -these administrative habits were transferred to political life, and -when, in obedience to the traditions of the old institutions of the -monarchy, hated as they were, the system which had been followed by -the provincial estates and the small municipalities of the towns was -applied in the National Convention; and the causes which had formerly -occasioned a certain embarrassment in the transaction of business -suddenly engendered the Reign of Terror. - -The Provincial Assemblies of 1787 were invested with the right of -governing themselves in most of the cases in which, until then, the -Intendant had acted alone; they were charged, under the authority of -the Central Government, with the assessment of the _taille_ and with -the superintendence of its collection--with the power of deciding what -public works were to be undertaken, and with their execution. All the -persons employed in public works, from the inspector down to the driver -of the road-gang, were under their control. They were to order what -they thought proper, to render an account of the services performed -to the Minister, and to suggest to him the fitting remuneration. The -parochial trusts were almost entirely placed under the direction of -these assemblies; they were to decide, in the first instance, most -of the litigated matters which had until then been tried before the -Intendant. Many of these functions were unsuitable for a collective and -irresponsible body, and moreover they were to be performed by men who -were now, for the first time, to take a part in the administration. - -The confusion was made complete by depriving the Intendant of all -power, though his office was not suppressed. After taking from him the -absolute right of doing everything, he was charged with the task of -assisting and superintending all that was to be done by the Assembly; -as if it were possible for a degraded public officer to enter into the -spirit of the law by which he has been dispossessed and to assist its -operation. - -That which had been done to the Intendant was now extended to his -Sub-delegate. By his side, and in the place which he had formerly -occupied, was placed a District Assembly, which was to act under the -direction of the Provincial Assembly, and upon analogous principles. - -All that we know of the acts of the Provincial Assemblies of 1787,[82] -and even their own reports, show that as soon as they were created -they engaged in covert hostilities and often in open war with the -Intendants, who made use of their superior experience only to embarrass -the movements of their successors. Here an Assembly complained that -it was only with difficulty that it could extract the most necessary -documents from the hands of the Intendant. There an Intendant accused -the members of the Assembly of endeavouring to usurp functions, which, -as he said, the edicts had still left to himself. He appealed to the -Minister, who often returned no answer, or merely expressed doubts, -for the subject was as new and as obscure to him as to every one else. -Sometimes the Assembly resolved that the Intendant had administered -badly, that the roads which he had caused to be made were ill planned -or ill kept up, and that the corporate bodies under his trust have gone -to ruin. Frequently these assemblies hesitated in the obscurity of laws -so imperfectly known; they sent great distances to consult one another, -and constantly sent each other advice. The Intendant of Auch asserted -that he had the right to oppose the will of the Provincial Assembly -which had authorised a parish to tax itself; the Assembly maintained -that this was a subject on which the Intendant could no longer give -orders, but only advice, and it asks the Assembly of the Ile de France -for its opinion. - -Amidst all these recriminations and consultations the course of -administration was impeded and often altogether stopped; the vital -functions of the country seemed almost suspended. ‘The stagnation of -affairs is complete,’ says the Provincial Assembly of Lorraine, which -in this was only the echo of several others, ‘and all good citizens are -grieved at it.’ - -On other occasions these new governing bodies erred on the side of -over-activity and excessive self-confidence; they were filled with a -restless and uneasy zeal, which led them to seek to change all the old -methods suddenly, and hastily to reform all the most ancient abuses. -Under the pretext that henceforth they were to be the guardians of -the towns, they assumed the control of municipal affairs; in a word, -they put the finishing stroke to the general confusion by aiming at -universal improvement. - -Now, when we consider what an immense space the administrative powers -of the State had so long filled in France, the numerous interests -which were daily affected by them, and all that depended upon them or -stood in need of their co-operation; when we reflect that it was to -the Government rather than to themselves that private persons looked -for the success of their own affairs, for the encouragement of their -manufactures, to ensure their means of subsistence, to lay out and keep -up their roads, to maintain their tranquillity, and to preserve their -wealth, we shall have some idea of the infinite number of people who -were personally injured by the evils from which the administration of -the kingdom was suffering. - -But it was in the villages that the defects of the new organisation -were most strongly felt; in them it not only disturbed the course -of authority, it likewise suddenly changed the relative position of -society, and brought every class into collision. - -When, in 1775, Turgot proposed to the King to reform the administration -of the rural districts, the greatest difficulty he encountered, as he -himself informs us, arose from the unequal incidence of taxation: for -how was it possible to make men who were not all liable to contribute -in the same manner, and some of whom were altogether exempt from -taxation, act and deliberate together on parochial affairs relating -chiefly to the assessment and the collection of those very taxes and -the purposes to which they were to be applied? Every parish contained -nobles and the clergy who did not pay the _taille_, peasants who were -partially or wholly exempt, and others who paid it all. It was as -three distinct parishes, each of which would have demanded a separate -administration. The difficulty was insoluble. - -Nowhere, indeed, was the inequality of taxation more apparent than -in the rural districts; nowhere was the population more effectually -divided into different groups frequently hostile to one another. -In order to make it possible to give to the villages a collective -administration and a free government on a small scale, it would have -been necessary to begin by subjecting all the inhabitants to an equal -taxation and lessening the distance by which the classes were divided. - -This was not, however, the course taken when the reform was begun -in 1787. Within each parish the ancient distinction of classes was -maintained, together with the inequality of taxation, which was its -principal token, but, nevertheless, the whole administration was placed -in the hands of elective bodies. This instantly led to very singular -results. - -When the electoral assembly met in order to choose municipal officers, -the Curé and the Seigneur were not to appear; they belonged, it was -alleged, to the orders of the nobility and the clergy, and this was -an occasion on which the commonalty had principally to choose its -representatives. - -When, however, the municipal body was once elected, the Curé and the -Seigneur were members of it by right; for it would not have been decent -altogether to exclude two such considerable inhabitants from the -government of the parish. The Seigneur even presided over the parochial -representatives in whose election he had taken no part, but in most of -their proceedings he had no voice. For instance, when the assessment -and division of the _taille_ were discussed, the Curé and the Seigneur -were not allowed to vote, for were they not both exempt from this -tax? On the other hand, the municipal council had nothing to do with -their capitation-tax, which continued to be regulated by the Intendant -according to peculiar forms. - -For fear that this President, isolated as he was from the body which -he was supposed to direct, should still exert an indirect influence -prejudicial to the interests of the Order to which he did not belong, -it was demanded that the votes of his own tenants should not count; and -the Provincial Assemblies, being consulted on this point, gave it as -their opinion that this omission was proper, and entirely conformable -to principle. Other persons of noble birth, who might be inhabitants of -the parish, could not sit in the same plebeian corporation unless they -were elected by the peasants and then, as the by-laws carefully pointed -out, they were only entitled to represent the lower classes. - -The Seigneur, therefore, only figured in this Assembly in a position -of absolute subjection to his former vassals, who were all at once -become his masters; he was their prisoner rather than their chief. In -gathering men together by such means as these, it seemed as if the -object was not so much to connect them more closely with each other -as to render more palpable the differences of their condition and the -incompatibility of their interests. - -Was or was not the village Syndic still that discredited officer whose -duties no one would accept but upon compulsion, or was the condition -of the Syndic raised with that of the community to which he belonged -as its chief agent?[83] Even this question was not easily answered. I -have found the letter of a village bailiff, written in 1788, in which -he expresses his indignation at having been elected to the office -of Syndic, ‘which was,’ he said, ‘contrary to all the privileges of -his other post.’ To this the Comptroller-General replies that this -individual must be set right: that he must be made to understand that -he ought to be proud of the choice of his fellow-citizens; and that -moreover the new Syndics were not to resemble the local officers who -had formerly borne the same appellation, and that they would be treated -with more consideration by the Government. - -On the other hand some of the chief inhabitants of parishes, and even -men of rank, began at once to draw nearer to the peasantry, as soon -as the peasantry had become a power in the State. A landed proprietor -exercising a heritable jurisdiction over a village near Paris -complained that the King’s Edict debarred him from taking part, even as -a mere inhabitant, in the proceedings of the Parochial Assembly. Others -consented, from mere public spirit, as they said, to accept even the -office of Syndic. - -It was too late: but as the members of the higher classes of society -in France thus began to approach the rural population and sought to -combine with the people, the people drew back into the isolation -to which it had been condemned and maintained that position. Some -parochial assemblies refused to allow the Seigneur of the place to take -his seat among them; others practised every kind of trick to evade the -reception of persons as low-born as themselves, but who were rich. ‘We -are informed,’ said the Provincial Assembly of Lower Normandy, ‘that -several municipal bodies have refused to receive among their members -landowners not being noble and not domiciled in the parish, though -these persons have an undoubted right to sit in such meetings. Some -other bodies have even refused to admit farmers not having any property -in land in the parish.’ - -Thus then the whole reform of these secondary enactments was already -novel, obscure, and conflicting before the principal laws affecting the -government of the State had yet been touched at all. But all that was -still untouched was already shaken, and it could barely be said that -any law was in existence which had not already been threatened with -abolition or a speedy change by the Central Government itself. - -This sudden and comprehensive renovation of all the laws and all -the administrative habits of France, which preceded the political -Revolution of 1789, is a thing scarcely thought of at the present time, -yet it was one of the severest perturbations which ever occurred in the -history of a great people. This first revolution exercised a prodigious -influence on the Revolution which was about to succeed it, and caused -the latter to be an event different from all the events of the same -kind which had ever till then happened in the world and from those -which have happened since.[84] - -The first English Revolution, which overthrew the whole political -constitution of the country and abolished the monarchy itself, touched -but superficially the secondary laws of the land and changed scarcely -any of the customs and usages of the nation. The administration of -justice and the conduct of public business retained their old forms and -followed even their past aberrations. In the heat of the Civil Wars the -twelve judges of England are said to have continued to go the circuit -twice a year. Everything was not, therefore, abandoned to agitation at -the same time. The Revolution was circumscribed in its effects, and -English society, though shaken at its apex, remained firm upon its base. - -France herself has since 1789 witnessed several revolutions which have -fundamentally changed the whole structure of her government. Most -of them have been very sudden and brought about by force, in open -violation of the existing laws. Yet the disorder they have caused has -never been either long or general; scarcely have they been felt by the -bulk of the nation, sometimes they have been unperceived. - -The reason is that since 1789 the administrative constitution of -France has ever remained standing amidst the ruins of her political -constitutions. The person of the sovereign or the form of the -government was changed, but the daily course of affairs was neither -interrupted nor disturbed: every man still remained submissive, in -the small concerns which interested himself, to the rules and usages -with which he was already familiar; he was dependent on the secondary -powers to which it had always been his custom to defer; and in most -cases he had still to do with the very same agents; for, if at each -revolution the administration was decapitated, its trunk still -remained unmutilated and alive; the same public duties were discharged -by the same public officers, who carried with them through all the -vicissitudes of political legislation the same temper and the same -practice. They judged and they administered in the name of the King, -afterwards in the name of the Republic, at last in the name of the -Emperor. And when Fortune had again given the same turn to her wheel, -they began once more to judge and to administer for the King, for the -Republic, and for the Emperor, the same persons doing the same thing, -for what is there in the name of a master? Their business was not so -much to be good citizens as to be good administrators and good judicial -officers. As soon as the first shock was over, it seemed, therefore, as -if nothing had stirred in the country. - -But when the Revolution of 1789 broke out, that part of the Government -which, though subordinate, makes itself daily felt by every member of -the commonwealth, and which affects his well-being more constantly and -decisively than anything else, had just been totally subverted: the -administrative offices of France had just changed all their agents and -revised all their principles. The State had not at first appeared to -receive a violent shock from this immense reform; but there was not a -man in the country who had not felt it in his own particular sphere. -Every one had been shaken in his condition, disturbed in his habits, or -put to inconvenience in his calling. A certain order still prevailed in -the more important and general affairs of the nation; but already no -one knew whom to obey, whom to apply to, nor how to proceed in those -lesser and private affairs which form the staple of social life. The -nation having lost its balance in all these details, one more blow -sufficed to upset it altogether, and to produce the widest catastrophe -and the most frightful confusion that the world had ever beheld. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[81] See Note LXXIV. - -[82] See Note LXXV., Contests in the Provincial Assemblies of 1787. - -[83] See Note LXXVI. - -[84] See Note LXXVII., Definition of Feudal Rights. - - - - -CHAPTER XX. - - SHOWING THAT THE REVOLUTION PROCEEDED NATURALLY FROM THE EXISTING - STATE OF FRANCE. - - -I propose ere I conclude to gather up some of the characteristics which -I have already separately described, and to trace the Revolution, -proceeding as it were of itself from the state of society in France -which I have already pourtrayed. - -If it be remembered that in France the Feudal system, though it still -kept unchanged all that could irritate or could injure, had most -effectually lost all that could protect or could be of use, it will -appear less surprising that the Revolution, which was about virtually -to abolish this ancient constitution of Europe, broke forth in France -rather than elsewhere. - -If it be observed that the French nobility, after having lost its -ancient political rights, and ceased more than in any other country of -feudal Europe to govern and guide the nation, had, nevertheless, not -only preserved, but considerably enlarged its pecuniary immunities, and -the advantages which the members of this body personally possessed; -that whilst it had become a subordinate class it still remained a -privileged and close body, less and less an aristocracy, as I have said -elsewhere, but more and more a caste; it will be no cause of surprise -that the privileges of such a nobility had become so inexplicable -and so abhorrent to the French people, as to inflame the envy of the -democracy to so fierce a pitch that it is still burning in their hearts. - -If, lastly, it be borne in mind that the French nobility, severed -from the middle classes whom they had repelled, and from the people -whose affections they had lost, was thus alone in the midst of the -nation--apparently the head of an army, but in reality a body of -officers without soldiers--it will be understood how that which had -stood erect for a thousand years came to perish in a night. - -I have shown how the King’s Government, having abolished the franchises -of the provinces, and having usurped all local powers in three-quarters -of the territory of France, had thus drawn all public affairs into -its own hands, the least as well as the greatest. I have shown, on the -other hand, how, by a necessary consequence, Paris had made itself the -master of the kingdom of which till then it had been the capital, or -rather had itself become the entire country. These two facts, which -were peculiar to France, would alone suffice, if necessary, to explain -why a riot could fundamentally destroy a monarchy which had for ages -endured so many violent convulsions, and which, on the eve of its -dissolution, still seemed unassailable even to those who were about to -overthrow it. - -France being one of the states of Europe in which all political life -had been for the longest time and most effectually extinguished, in -which private persons had most lost the usage of business, the habit -of reading the course of events, the experience of popular movements -and almost the notion of the people, it may readily be imagined how -all Frenchmen came at once to fall into a frightful Revolution without -foreseeing it; those who were most threatened by that catastrophe -leading the way, and undertaking to open and widen the path which led -to it. - -As there were no longer any free institutions, or consequently any -political classes, no living political bodies, no organised or -disciplined parties, and as, in the absence of all these regular -forces, the direction of public opinion, when public opinion came again -into being, devolved exclusively on the French philosophers, it might -be expected that the Revolution would be directed less with a view to a -particular state of facts, than with reference to abstract principles -and very general theories: it might be anticipated that instead of -endeavouring separately to amend the laws which were bad, all laws -would be attacked, and that an attempt would be made to substitute -for the ancient constitution of France an entirely novel system of -government, conceived by these writers. - -The Church being naturally connected with all the old institutions -which were doomed to perish, it could not be doubted that the -Revolution would shake the religion of the country when it overthrew -the civil government; wherefore it was impossible to foretell to what -pitch of extravagance these innovators might rush, delivered at once -from all the restraints which religion, custom, and law impose on the -imagination of mankind. - -He who should thus have studied the state of France would easily have -foreseen that no stretch of audacity was too extreme to be attempted -there, and no act of violence too great to be endured. ‘What,’ said -Burke, in one of his eloquent pamphlets, ‘is there not a man who can -answer for the smallest district--nay, more, not one man who can answer -for another? Every one is arrested in his own home without resistance, -whether he be accused of royalism, of _moderantism_, or of anything -else.’ But Mr. Burke knew but little of the condition in which that -monarchy which he regretted had abandoned France to her new masters. -The administration which had preceded the Revolution had deprived the -French both of the means and of the desire of mutual assistance. When -the Revolution arrived, it would have been vain to seek in the greater -part of France for any ten men accustomed to act systematically and -in concert, or to provide for their own defence; the Central Power -had alone assumed that duty, so that when this Central Power had -passed from the hands of the Crown into those of an irresponsible and -sovereign Assembly, and had become as terrible as it had before been -good-natured, nothing stood before it to stop or even to check it for -a moment. The same cause which led the monarchy to fall so easily -rendered everything possible after its fall had occurred. - -Never had toleration in religion, never had mildness in authority, -never had humanity and goodwill to mankind been more professed, and, it -seemed, more generally admitted than in the eighteenth century. Even -the rights of war, which is the last refuge of violence, had become -circumscribed and softened. Yet from this relaxed state of manners a -Revolution of unexampled inhumanity was about to spring, though this -softening of the manners of France was not a mere pretence, for no -sooner had the Revolution spent its fury than the same gentleness -immediately pervaded all the laws of the country, and penetrated into -the habits of political society. - -This contrast between the benignity of its theories and the violence -of its actions, which was one of the strangest characteristics of the -French Revolution, will surprise no one who has remarked that this -Revolution had been prepared by the most civilised classes of the -nation, and that it was accomplished by the most barbarous and the most -rude. The members of those civilised classes having no pre-existing -bond of union, no habit of acting in concert, no hold upon the people, -the people almost instantly became supreme when the old authorities of -the State were annihilated. Where the people did not actually assume -the government it gave its spirit to those who governed; and if, on the -other hand, it be recollected what the manner of life of that people -had been under the old monarchy, it may readily be surmised what it -would soon become. - -Even the peculiarities of its condition had imparted to the French -people several virtues of no common occurrence. Emancipated early, and -long possessed of a part of the soil, isolated rather than dependent, -the French showed themselves at once temperate and proud; sons of -labour, indifferent to the delicacies of life, resigned to its greatest -evils, firm in danger--a simple and manly race who were about to fill -those mighty armies before which Europe was to bow. But the same -cause made them dangerous masters. As they had borne almost alone for -centuries all the burden of public wrongs--as they had lived apart -feeding in silence on their prejudices, their jealousies, and their -hatreds, they had become hardened by the rigour of their destiny, and -capable both of enduring and of inflicting every evil. - -Such was the state of the French people when, laying hands on the -government, it undertook to complete the work of the Revolution. -Books had supplied the theory; the people undertook the practical -application, and adapted the conceptions of those writers to the -impulse of their own passions. - -Those who have attentively considered, in these pages, the state -of France in the eighteenth century must have remembered the birth -and development of two leading passions, which, however, were not -contemporaneous, and which did not always tend to the same end. - -The first, more deeply seated and proceeding from a more remote source, -was the violent and inextinguishable hatred of inequality. This -passion, born and nurtured in presence of the inequality it abhorred, -had long impelled the French with a continuous and irresistible force -to raze to their foundations all that remained of the institutions -of the Middle Ages, and upon the ground thus cleared to construct a -society in which men should be as much alike and their conditions as -equal as human nature admits of. - -The second, of a more recent date and a less tenacious root, led them -to desire to live, not only equal but free. - -At the period immediately preceding the Revolution of 1789, these two -passions were equally sincere and appeared to be equally intense. At -the outbreak of the Revolution they met and combined; for a moment they -were intimately mingled, they inflamed each other by mutual contact, -and kindled at once the whole heart of France. Such was 1789, a time -of inexperience no doubt, but a time of generosity, of enthusiasm, -of virility, and of greatness--a time of immortal memory, towards -which the eyes of mankind will turn with admiration and respect long -after those who witnessed it and we ourselves shall have disappeared. -Then, indeed, the French were sufficiently proud of their cause -and of themselves to believe that they might be equal in freedom. -Amidst their democratic institutions they therefore everywhere placed -free institutions. Not only did they crush to the dust all that -effete legislation which divided men into castes, corporations, and -classes, and which rendered their rights even more unequal than their -conditions, but they shattered by a single blow those other laws, more -recently imposed by the authority of the Crown, which had deprived the -French nation of the free enjoyment of its own powers, and had placed -by the side of every Frenchman the Government, as his preceptor, his -guardian, and, if need be, his oppressor. Centralisation fell with -absolute government. - -But when that vigorous generation, which had commenced the Revolution -was destroyed or enervated, as commonly happens to any generation -which engages in such enterprises--when, following the natural course -of events of this nature, the love of freedom had been damped and -discouraged by anarchy and popular tyranny, and the bewildered nation -began to grope after a master--absolute government found prodigious -facilities for recovering and consolidating its authority, and these -were easily discovered by the genius of the man who was to continue the -Revolution and to destroy it. - -France under the old Monarchy had, in fact, contained a whole system -of institutions of modern date, which, not being adverse to social -equality, could easily have found a place in the new state of society, -but which offered remarkable opportunities to despotism. These were -sought for amidst the ruins of all other institutions, and they were -found there. These institutions had formerly given birth to habits, -to passions, and to opinions, which tended to retain men in a state -of division and obedience: and such were the institutions which -were restored and set to work. Centralisation was disentangled from -the ruins and re-established; and as, whilst this system rose once -more, everything by which it had before been limited was destroyed, -from the bowels of that nation which had just overthrown monarchy a -power suddenly came forth more extended, more comprehensive, more -absolute than that which had ever been exercised by any of the French -kings. This enterprise appeared strangely audacious, and its success -unparalleled, because men were thinking of what they saw, and had -forgotten what they had seen. The Dominator fell, but all that was most -substantial in his work remained standing; his government had perished, -but the administration survived; and every time that an attempt has -since been made to strike down absolute power, all that has been done -is to place a head of Liberty on a servile body. - -Several times, from the commencement of the Revolution to the present -day, the passion of liberty has been seen in France to expire, to -revive--and then to expire again, again to revive. Thus will it -long be with a passion so inexperienced and ill-directed, so easily -discouraged, alarmed, and vanquished; a passion so superficial and -so transient. During the whole of this period, the passion for -equality has never ceased to occupy that deep-seated place in the -hearts of the French people which it was the first to seize: it -clings to the feelings they cherish most fondly. Whilst the love of -freedom frequently changes its aspect, wanes and waxes, grows or -declines with the course of events, that other passion is still the -same, ever attracted to the same object with the same obstinate and -indiscriminating ardour, ready to make any sacrifice to those who allow -it to sate its desires, and ready to furnish every government which -will favour and flatter it with the habits, the opinions, and the laws -which Despotism requires to enable it to reign. - -The French Revolution will ever be wrapped in clouds and darkness to -those who direct their attention to itself alone. The only light that -can illuminate its course must be sought in the times which preceded -it. Without a clear perception of the former society of France, of its -laws, of its defects, of its prejudices, of its littleness, of its -greatness, it is impossible to comprehend what the French have been -doing in the sixty years which have followed its dissolution; but even -this perception will not suffice without penetrating to the very quick -into the character of this nation. - -When I consider this people in itself it strikes me as more -extraordinary than any event in its own annals. Was there ever any -nation on the face of the earth so full of contrasts and so extreme in -all its actions; more swayed by sensations, less by principles; led -therefore always to do either worse or better than was expected of -it, sometimes below the common level of humanity, sometimes greatly -above it;--a people so unalterable in its leading instincts, that -its likeness may still be recognised in descriptions written two or -three thousand years ago, but at the same time so mutable in its daily -thoughts and in its tastes as to become a spectacle and an amazement -to itself, and to be as much surprised as the rest of the world at the -sight of what it has done;--a people beyond all others the child of -home and the slave of habit, when left to itself, but when once torn -against its will from the native hearth and from its daily pursuits, -ready to go to the end of the world and to dare all things; indocile by -temperament, yet accepting the arbitrary and even the violent rule of -a sovereign more readily than the free and regular government of the -chief citizen; to-day the declared enemy of all obedience, to-morrow -serving with a sort of passion which the nations best adapted for -servitude cannot attain; guided by a thread as long as no one resists, -ungovernable when the example of resistance has once been given; always -deceiving its masters, who fear it either too little or too much; never -so free that it is hopeless to enslave it, or so enslaved that it may -not break the yoke again; apt for all things but excelling only in war; -adoring chance, force, success, splendour and noise, more than true -glory; more capable of heroism than of virtue, of genius than of good -sense, ready to conceive immense designs rather than to accomplish -great undertakings; the most brilliant and the most dangerous of the -nations of Europe and that best fitted to become by turns an object of -admiration, of hatred, of pity, of terror, but never of indifference! - -Such a nation could alone give birth to a Revolution so sudden, so -radical, so impetuous in its course, and yet so full of reactions, of -contradictory incidents and of contrary examples. Without the reasons -I have related the French would never have made the Revolution; but it -must be confessed that all these reasons united would not have sufficed -to account for such a Revolution anywhere else but in France. - -I am arrived then at the threshold of this great event. My intention is -not to go beyond it now, though perhaps I may do so hereafter. I shall -then proceed to consider it not only in its causes but in itself, and I -shall venture finally to pass a judgment on the state of society which -it has produced. - - - - -SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. - - ON THE PAYS D’ÉTATS, AND ESPECIALLY ON THE CONSTITUTIONS OF LANGUEDOC. - - -It is not my intention minutely to investigate in this place how public -business was carried on in each of the provinces called Pays d’États, -which were still in existence at the outbreak of the Revolution. I wish -only to indicate the number of them; to point out those in which local -life was still most active; to show what were the relations of these -provinces with the administration of the Crown; how far they formed an -exception to the general rules I have previously established; how far -they fell within those rules; and lastly, to show by the example of one -of these provinces what they might all have easily become. - -Estates had existed in most of the provinces of France--that is, each -of them had been administered under the King’s government by the -_gens des trois états_, as they were then called, which meant the -representatives of the Clergy, the Nobility, and the Commons. This -provincial constitution, like most of the other political institutions -of the Middle Ages, occurred, with the same features, in almost all the -civilised parts of Europe--in all those parts, at least, into which -Germanic manners and ideas had penetrated. In many of the provinces of -Germany these States subsisted down to the French Revolution; in those -provinces in which they had been previously destroyed they had only -disappeared in the course of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. -Everywhere, for two hundred years, the sovereigns had carried on a -clandestine or an open warfare against them. Nowhere had they attempted -to improve this institution with the progress of time, but only to -destroy and deform it whenever an opportunity presented itself and when -they could not do worse. - -In France, in 1789, these States only existed in five provinces of a -certain extent and in some insignificant districts. Provincial liberty -could, in truth, only be said to exist in two provinces--in Brittany -and in Languedoc: everywhere else the institution had entirely lost its -virility, and was reduced to a mere shadow. - -I shall take the case of Languedoc separately, and devote to it in this -place a closer examination. - -Languedoc was the most extensive and the most populous of all the -_pays d’états_. It contained more than two thousand parishes, or, -as they were then called, ‘communities,’ and nearly two millions of -inhabitants. It was, besides, the best ordered and the most prosperous -of all these provinces as well as the largest. Languedoc is, therefore, -the fairest specimen of what provincial liberty might be under the old -French monarchy, and to what an extent, even in the districts where it -appeared strongest, it had been subjected to the power of the Crown. - -In Languedoc the Estates could only assemble upon the express order -of the King, and under a writ of summons addressed by the King -individually every year to the members of whom they were composed, -which caused one of the malcontents of the time to say, ‘Of the three -bodies composing our Estates, one--that of the clergy--sits at the -nomination of the King, since he names to the bishoprics and benefices; -and the two others may be supposed to be so, since an order of the -Court may prevent any member it pleases from attending the Assembly, -and this without exiling or prosecuting him, by merely not summoning -him.’ - -The Estates were not only to meet, but to be prorogued on certain days -appointed by the King. The customary duration of their session had been -fixed at forty days by an Order in Council. The King was represented -in the Assembly by commissioners, who had always free access when they -required it, and whose business it was to explain the will of the -Government. The Assembly was, moreover, strictly held in restraint. -They could take no resolution of any importance, they could determine -on no financial measure at all, until their deliberations had been -approved by an Order in Council; for a tax, a loan, or a suit at law -they require the express permission of the King. All their standing -orders, down to that which related to the order of their meetings, had -to be authorised before they became operative. The aggregate of their -receipts and expenditure--their budget, as it would now be called--was -subjected every year to the same control. - -The Central Power, moreover, exercised in Languedoc the same political -rights which were everywhere else acknowledged to belong to it. The -laws which the Crown was pleased to promulgate, the general ordinances -it was continually passing, the general measures of its policy, were -applicable there as well as in the rest of the kingdom. The Crown -exercised there all the natural functions of government; it had there -the same police and the same agents; there, as well as everywhere -else, it created numerous new public officers, whose places the -province was compelled to buy up at a large price. - -Languedoc was governed, like the other provinces of France, by an -Intendant. This Intendant had, in each district, his Sub-delegates, -who corresponded with the heads of the parishes and directed them. The -Intendant exercised the tutelage of the administration as completely -as in the _pays d’élection_. The humblest village in the gorges of the -Cevennes was precluded from making the smallest outlay until it had -been authorised by an Order of the King’s Council from Paris. That part -of the judicial administration which is now denominated in France the -_contentieux administratif_, or the litigated questions referred to the -Council of State, was not only not less, but more comprehensive than in -the remainder of France. The Intendant decided, in the first instance, -all questions relating to the public ways; he judged all suits relating -to roads; and, in general, he pronounced on all the matters in which -the Government was, or conceived itself to be, interested. The -Government extended the same protection as elsewhere to all its agents -against the rash prosecutions of the citizens whom they might have -oppressed. - -What then did Languedoc possess which distinguished it from the -other provinces of the kingdom, and which caused them to envy its -institutions? Three things sufficed to render it entirely different -from the rest of France. - -I. An Assembly, composed of men of station, looked up to by the -population, respected by the Crown, to which no officer of the Central -Power, or, to use the phraseology then in use, ‘no officer of the -King,’ could belong, and in which, every year, the special interests of -the province were freely and gravely discussed. The mere fact that the -royal administration was placed near this source of light caused its -privileges to be very differently exercised; and though its agents and -its instincts were the same, its results in no degree resembled what -they were elsewhere. - -II. In Languedoc many public works were executed at the expense of -the King and his agents. There were other public works, for which -the Central Government provided the funds and partly directed the -execution, but the greater part of them were executed at the expense -of the province alone. When the King had approved the plan and -authorised the estimates for these last-mentioned works, they were -executed by officers chosen by the Estates, and under the inspection of -commissioners taken from this Assembly. - -III. Lastly, the province had the right of levying itself, and in the -manner it preferred, a part of the royal taxes and all the rates which -were imposed by its own authority for its own wants. - -Let us see the results which Languedoc continued to extract from these -privileges: they deserve a minute attention. - -Nothing is more striking in the other parts of France--the _pays -d’élection_--than the almost complete absence of local charges. -The general imposts were frequently oppressive, but a province -spent nothing on itself. In Languedoc, on the contrary, the annual -expenditure of the province on public works was enormous; in 1780 it -exceeded two millions of livres. - -The Central Government was sometimes alarmed at witnessing so vast -an outlay. It feared that the province, exhausted by such an effort, -would be unable to acquit the share of the taxes due to the State; it -blamed the Estates for not moderating this expenditure. I have read a -document, framed by the Assembly, in answer to these animadversions: -the passages I am about to transcribe from it will depict, better than -all I could say, the spirit which animated this small Government. - -It is admitted in this statement that the province has commenced and -is still carrying on immense public works; but, far from offering any -apology for this proceeding, it is added that, saving the opposition of -the Crown, these works will be still further extended and persevered -in. The province had already improved or rectified the channel of the -principal rivers within its territory, and it was then engaged in -adding to the Canal of Burgundy, dug under Louis XIV., but already -insufficient, a prolongation which, passing through Lower Languedoc, -should proceed by Cette and Agen to the Rhone. The port of Cette had -been opened to trade, and was maintained at great cost. All these -expenses had, as was observed, a national rather than a provincial -character; yet the province, as the party chiefly interested, had -taken them on itself. It was also engaged in draining and restoring to -agriculture the marshes of Aigues-Mortes. Roads had been the object -of its peculiar care: all those which connect the province with the -rest of the kingdom had been opened or put in good order; even the -cross-roads between the towns and villages of Languedoc had been -repaired. All these different roads were excellent even in winter, and -formed the greatest contrast with the hard, uneven, and ill-constructed -roads which were to be found in most of the adjacent provinces, -such as Dauphiny, Quercy, and the government of Bordeaux--all _pays -d’élection_, it was remarked. On this point the Report appeals to the -opinion of travellers and traders; and this appeal was just, for -Arthur Young, when he visited the country ten years afterwards, put -on his notes, ‘Languedoc, _pays d’états_: good roads, made without -compulsory labour.’ - -‘If the King would allow it,’ this Report continued, ‘the States -will do more: they will undertake the improvement of the crossroads -in the villages, which are not less interesting than the others. For -if produce cannot be removed from the barns of the grower to market, -what use is it that it can be sent to a distance?’ ‘The doctrine of -the States on questions of public works has always been,’ they say, -‘that it is not the grandeur of these undertakings but their utility -that must be looked to.’ Rivers, canals, roads which give value to -all the produce of the soil and of manufactures, by enabling them to -be conveyed at all times and at little cost wherever they are wanted, -and by means of which commerce can penetrate to every part of the -province--these are things which enrich a country, whatever they may -cost it. Besides, works of this nature, undertaken in moderation at -the same time, in various parts of the country, and somewhat equally -distributed, keep up the rate of wages, and stand in lieu of relief to -the poor. ‘The King has not needed to establish charitable workhouses -at his cost in Languedoc, as has been done in other parts of France,’ -said the province, with honest pride; ‘we do not ask for that favour; -the useful works we ourselves carry on every year supersede such -establishments, and give to all our people productive labour.’ - -The more I have studied the general regulations established by the -States of Languedoc, with the permission of the King (though generally -not originating with the Crown), in that portion of the public -administration which was left in their hands, the more I have been -struck with the wisdom, the equity, and the moderation they display; -the more superior do the proceedings of the local government appear in -comparison with all I have found in the districts administered by the -King alone. - -The province was divided into ‘communities’ (towns or villages); into -administrative districts, called _dioceses_; and, lastly, into three -great departments called _stewardries_. Each of these parts had a -distinct representation, and a little separate government of its own, -which acted under the guidance either of the Estates or of the Crown. -If it be a question of public works which interest one of these small -political bodies, they are only to be undertaken at the request of -the interested parties. If the improvements of a community are of -advantage to the diocese, the diocese contributed to the expense in -a certain proportion. If the stewardry was interested, the stewardry -contributed likewise. So again these several divisions were all to -assist the townships, even for the completion of undertakings of local -interest, if they were necessary and above its strength, for, said the -States frequently, ‘the fundamental principle of our constitution is -that all parts of Languedoc are reciprocally bound together, and ought -successively to help each other.’ - -The works executed by the province were to be carefully prepared -beforehand, and first submitted to the examination of the lesser -bodies which were to contribute to them. They were all paid for: -forced labour was unknown. I have observed that in the other parts -of France--the _pays d’élection_--the land taken from its owners for -public works was always ill and tardily paid for, and often not paid -for at all. This was one of the great grievances complained of by the -Provincial Assemblies when they were convoked in 1787. In some cases -the possibility of liquidating debts of this nature had been taken -away, for the object taken had been altered or destroyed before the -valuation. In Languedoc every inch of ground taken from its owner was -to be carefully valued before the works were begun, and paid for in the -first year of the execution. - -The regulations of these Estates relating to different public works, -from which these details are copied, seemed so well conceived that even -the Central Government admired, though without imitating them. The -King’s Council, after having sanctioned the application of them, caused -them to be printed at the Royal press, and to be transmitted to all the -Intendants of France as a document to be consulted. - -What I have said of public works is _à fortiori_ applicable to that -other not less important portion of the provincial administration which -related to the levy of taxes. In this respect, more particularly, the -contrast was so great between the kingdom and the provinces that it is -difficult to believe they formed part of the same empire. - -I have had occasion to say elsewhere that the methods of proceeding -used in Languedoc for the assessment and collection of the _taille_ -were in part the same as are now employed in France in the levy of the -public taxes. Nor shall I here revert to this subject, merely adding -that the province was so attached to its own superior methods of -proceeding, that when new taxes were imposed by the Crown, the States -of Languedoc never hesitated to purchase at a very high price the right -of levying them in their own manner and by their own agents exclusively. - -In spite of all the expenses which I have successively enumerated, -the finances of Languedoc were nevertheless in such good order, and -its credit so well established, that the Central Government often had -recourse to it, and borrowed, in the name of the province, sums of -money which would not have been lent on such favourable terms to the -Government itself. Thus Languedoc borrowed, on its own security, but -for the King’s service, in the later years of the monarchy, 73,200,000 -livres, or nearly three millions sterling. - -The Government and the Ministers of the Crown looked, however, with an -unfavourable eye on these provincial liberties. Richelieu had first -mutilated and afterwards abolished them. The spiritless and indolent -Louis XIII., who loved nothing, detested them; the horror he felt for -all provincial privileges was such, said Boulainvilliers, that his -anger was excited by the mere name of them. It is hard to sound the -hatred of feeble souls for whatever compels them to exert themselves. -All that they retain of manhood is turned in that direction, and they -exhibit strength in their animosity, however weak they may be in -everything else. Fortunately the ancient constitution of Languedoc was -restored under the minority of Louis XIV., who consequently respected -it as his own work. Louis XV. suspended it for a couple of years, but -afterwards allowed it to go on. - -The creation of municipal offices for sale exposed the constitution -of the province to dangers less direct, but not less formidable. -That pernicious institution not only destroyed the constitution of -the towns; it tended to vitiate that of the provinces. I know not -whether the deputies of the commons in the Provincial Assemblies had -ever been elected _ad hoc_, but at any rate they had long ceased to -be so; the municipal officers of the towns were _ex officio_ the sole -representatives of the burgesses and the people in those bodies. - -This absence of a direct constituency acting with reference to the -affairs of the day was but little remarked as long as the towns freely -elected their own magistrates by universal suffrage, and generally -for a very limited period. Thus the mayor, the council, or the syndic -represented the wishes of the population in the Hall of the Estates as -faithfully as if they had been elected by their fellow-citizens for -that purpose. But very different was the case with a civic officer -who had purchased for money the right of governing. Such an officer -represented no one but himself, or, at best, the petty interests -or the petty passions of his own coterie. Yet this magistrate by -contract retained the powers which had been exercised by his elected -predecessors. The character of the institution was, therefore, -immediately changed. The nobles and the clergy, instead of having -the representatives of the people sitting with them or opposite to -them in the Provincial Assembly, met there none but a few isolated, -timid, and powerless burgesses, and thus the commons occupied a more -subordinate place in the government at the very time when they were -every day becoming richer and stronger in society. This was not the -case in Languedoc, the province having always taken care to buy up -these offices as fast as they were established by the Crown. The loan -contracted by the States for this purpose, in the year 1773 only, -amounted to more than four millions of livres. - -Other causes of still greater power had contributed to infuse a new -spirit into these ancient institutions, and to give to the States of -Languedoc an incontestable superiority over those of all the other -provinces. - -In this province, as in a great portion of the south of France, the -_taille_ was real and not personal--that is to say, it was regulated -by the value of property, and not by the personal condition of the -proprietor. Some lands had, no doubt, the privilege of not paying this -tax: these lands had, in former times, belonged to the nobility, but, -by the progress of time and of capital, it had happened that a portion -of this property had fallen into the hands of non-noble holders. On the -other hand, the nobles had become the holders of many lands which were -liable to the _taille_. The privilege of exemption, being thus removed -from persons to things, was doubtless more abused; but it was less -felt, because, though still irksome, it was no longer humiliating. Not -being indissolubly connected with the idea of a class, not investing -any class with interests altogether alien and opposed to those of the -other classes, such a privilege no longer opposed a barrier to the -co-operation of all in public affairs. In Languedoc especially, more -than in any other part of France, all classes did so co-operate, and -this on a footing of complete equality. - -In Brittany the landed gentry of the province had the right of all -appearing in their own persons at the States, which made these -Assemblies in some sort resemble the Polish Diets. In Languedoc -the nobles only figured at the States of the province by their -representatives: twenty-three of them sat for the whole body. The -clergy also sat in the person of the twenty-three bishops of the -province, and it deserves especial observation that the towns had as -many votes as the two upper orders. - -As the Assembly sat in one house and the orders did not vote -separately, but conjointly, the commons naturally acquired much -importance, and their spirit gradually infused itself into the whole -body. Nay, more, the three magistrates, who, under the name of -Syndics-General, were charged, in the name of the States, with the -ordinary management of the business, were almost always lawyers,--that -is to say, commoners. The nobility was strong enough to maintain -its rank, but no longer strong enough to reign alone. The clergy, -though consisting to a great extent of men of gentle birth, lived on -excellent terms with the commons; they eagerly adopted most of the -plans of that Order, and laboured in conjunction with it to increase -the material prosperity of the whole community, by encouraging trade -and manufactures, thus placing their own great knowledge of mankind -and their singular dexterity in the conduct of affairs at the service -of the people. A priest was almost always chosen to proceed to -Versailles to discuss with the Ministers of the Crown the questions -which sometimes set at variance the royal authority and that of the -States. It might be said that throughout the last century Languedoc -was administered by the Commons, who were controlled by the Nobles and -assisted by the Bishops. - -Thanks to this peculiar constitution of Languedoc, the spirit of the -age was enabled peacefully to pervade this ancient institution, and to -modify it altogether without at all destroying it. - -It might have been so everywhere else in France. A small portion of the -perseverance and the exertions which the sovereigns of France employed -for the abolition or the dislocation of the Provincial Estates would -have sufficed to perfect them in this manner, and to adapt them to all -the wants of modern civilisation, if those sovereigns had ever had any -other aim than to become and to remain the masters of France. - - - - - [The chapters which follow were not included in the work first - published by M. de Tocqueville in 1855. They are the continuation of - it, left unfinished at the time of his death in 1859, and published - in 1865 by M. de Beaumont amongst the posthumous works of his friend. - They are now translated for the first time. Although they must be - regarded as incomplete, since they never received the final revision - of the author, and the latter portions of them are fragmentary, yet - they are not, I think, unworthy to form part of the work to which they - were intended to belong, and a melancholy interest attaches to them as - the last meditations of a great and original thinker. In the French - text an attempt has been made to distinguish, by a different type, the - passages which are more carefully finished from those which consisted - merely of notes for further elaboration. But as this arrangement - breaks the uniformity of the text more than is necessary, I have not - adopted it.--H. R.] - - - - -_BOOK III._ - - - - -CHAPTER I. - - OF THE VIOLENT AND UNDEFINED AGITATION OF THE HUMAN MIND AT THE MOMENT - WHEN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION BROKE OUT. - - -What I have previously said of France is applicable to the whole -Continent. In the ten or fifteen years preceding the French Revolution, -the human mind was abandoned, throughout Europe, to strange, -incoherent, and irregular impulses, symptoms of a new and extraordinary -disease, which would have singularly alarmed the world if the world had -understood them. - -A conception of the greatness of man in general, and of the omnipotence -of his reason and the boundless range of his intelligence, had -penetrated and pervaded the spirit of the age; yet this lofty -conception of mankind in general was commingled with a boundless -contempt for the age in which men were living and the society to which -they belonged. Never was so much humility united to so much pride--the -pride of humanity was inflated to madness; the estimate each man formed -of his age and country was singularly low. - -All over the Continent that instinctive attachment and involuntary -respect which the men of all ages and all countries are wont in general -to feel for their own peculiar institutions, for their traditional -customs, and for the wisdom or the virtues of their forefathers, had -almost ceased to exist among the educated classes. Nothing was spoken -of but the decrepitude and incoherence of existing institutions, the -vices and corruption of existing society. - -Traces of this state of mind may be discovered throughout the -literature of Germany. The philosophy, the history, the poetry, even -the novels of the time, are full of it. Every product of the intellect -was so stamped by it, that the books of that epoch bear a mark that -distinguishes them from the works of every other age. All the memoirs -of that day, which gave birth to a profusion of memoirs--all the -correspondence of the time which has been published--attest a state -of mind so different from the present, that nothing short of this -concurrence of certain and abundant evidence could convince us of the -fact. - -Every page of Schlosser’s ‘History of the Eighteenth Century’ reveals -this general presentiment, that a great change was about to take place -in the condition of mankind. - -George Forster, one of the companions of Captain Cook, to whose -expedition he had been attached with his father as a naturalist, writes -to Jacobi in 1779: ‘Things cannot remain as they are: this is announced -by every symptom in the world of science, in the world of theology, and -in that of politics. Much as my heart has hitherto desired peace, not -less do I desire to see the arrival of this crisis on which such mighty -hopes are founded.’[85] ‘Europe,’ he writes again in 1782, ‘seems to -me on the brink of a horrible revolution; in truth the mass is so -corrupt that bleeding may well be necessary.’[86] ‘The present state -of society,’ said Jacobi, ‘presents to me nothing but the aspect of a -dead and stagnant sea: that is why I could desire an inundation, be it -what it may, even of barbarians, to sweep away this reeking marsh and -lay bare a fresh soil.’[87] ‘We are living in the midst of shattered -institutions and forms’--a monstrous chaos which everywhere reflects -an image of dismay[88] and of death.’ These things were written in a -pretty country house, by wealthy people, surrounded by their literary -friends, who passed their time in endless philosophical discussions -which affected, excited, and inflamed them till they shed torrents of -daily tears--in imagination. - -It was not the princes, the ministers, the rulers, or those, in short, -who, in different capacities, were directing the march of affairs, who -perceived that some great change was at hand. The idea that government -could become quite different from what government then was,--that all -which had lasted so long might be destroyed and superseded by that -which as yet only existed in the brain of a few men of letters--the -thought that the existing order of things might be overthrown to -establish a new order in the midst of disorder and ruin, would have -appeared to them an absurd illusion and a fantastic dream. The gradual -improvement of society seemed to them the limit of the possible. - -It is a common error of the people who are called wise and practical -in ordinary times, to judge by certain rules the men whose very object -is to change or to destroy those rules. When a time is come at which -passion takes the guidance of affairs, the beliefs of men of experience -are less worthy of consideration than the schemes which engage the -imagination of dreamers. - -It is curious to see in the official correspondence of that epoch, -civil officers of ability and foresight laying their plans, framing -their measures, and calculating scientifically the use they will make -of their powers, at a time when the Government they are serving, the -laws they are applying, the society they are living in, and they -themselves shall be no more. - -‘What scenes are passing in France!’ writes Johann Müller on the 6th -of August, 1789.[89] ‘Blessed be the impression they produce on the -nations and on their masters! I know there are excesses, but the cost -of a free constitution is not too great. Is not a storm which purifies -the air better than an atmosphere tainted as with the plague, even -though here and there it should strike a few heads?’ ‘What an event,’ -exclaimed Fox, ‘how much the greatest it is that ever happened in the -world! and how much the best!’[90] - -Can we be surprised that this conception of the Revolution as a general -uprising of humanity, a conception which enlarged and invigorated so -many small and feeble souls, should have taken possession at once of -the mind of France, when even other countries partook of it? Nor is -it astonishing that the first excesses of the Revolution should have -affected the best patriots of France so little, when even foreigners -who were not excited by the struggle or embittered by personal -grievances could extend so much indulgence to them. - -Let it not be supposed that this sort of abhorrence of themselves -and of their age, which had thus strangely fallen upon almost all -the inhabitants of the continent of Europe, was a superficial or a -transient sentiment. - -Ten years later, when the French Revolution had inflicted on Germany -all sorts of violent transformations accompanied by death and -destruction, even then, one of those Germans, in whom enthusiasm for -France had turned to bitter hatred, exclaims, mindful of the past, in -a confidential effusion, ‘What was is no more. What new edifice will -be raised on the ruins, I know not. But this I know, that it would be -the direst calamity if this tremendous era were again to give birth -to the apathy and the worn-out forms of the past.’ ‘Yes,’ replied the -person to whom these words were addressed, ‘the old social body must -perish.’[91] - -The years which preceded the French Revolution were, in almost every -part of Europe, years of great national prosperity. The useful arts -were everywhere more cultivated. The taste for enjoyments, which follow -in the train of affluence, was more diffused. Industry and commerce, -which supply these wants, were improving and spreading. It seemed -as if the life of man becoming thus more busy and more sensual, the -human mind would lose sight of those abstract studies which embrace -society, and would centre more and more on the petty cares of daily -life. But the contrary took place. Throughout Europe, almost as much -as in France, all the educated classes were plunged in philosophical -discussions and dogmatical theories. Even in places ordinarily the most -remote from speculations of this nature, the same train of argument was -eagerly pursued. In the most trading cities of Germany, in Hamburg, -Lubeck, and Dantzig, the merchants, traders, and manufacturers would -meet after the labours of the day to discuss amongst themselves -the great questions which affect the existence, the condition, the -happiness of man. Even the women, amidst their petty household cares, -were sometimes distracted by these enigmas of life. ‘We thought,’ -says Perthes, ‘that by becoming highly enlightened, one might become -perfect.’ - - ‘Der König sey der beste Mann, sonst sey der bessere König,’ - -said the poet Claudius. - -This period too gave birth to a new passion, embodied in a new -word--_cosmopolitism_--which was to swallow up patriotism. It seemed as -if all classes were bent on escaping whenever they could from the care -of their private affairs, to give themselves up to the grand interests -of humanity. - -As in France the love of letters filled a large space even in the -busiest times, the publication of a new book was an event of interest -in the smallest towns as well as in the chief cities. Everything was -a subject of inquiry; everything was a source of emotion. Treasures -of passion seemed accumulated in every breast, which sought but an -occasion to break forth. - -Thus, a traveller who had been round the globe was an object of general -attention. When Forster went to Germany in 1774, he was received with -enthusiasm. Not a town but gave him an ovation. Crowds flocked about -him to hear his adventures from his own lips, but still more to hear -him describe the unknown countries he had visited, and the strange -customs of the men among whom he had been living. Was not their savage -simplicity worthy more than all our riches and our arts: were not their -instincts above our virtues?[92] - -A certain unfrocked Lutheran priest, one Basidow, ignorant, -quarrelsome, and a drunkard, a caricature of Luther, excogitated a new -system of schools which was, he said, to change the ideas and manners -of his countrymen. He put forth his scheme in coarse and intemperate -language. The object, as he took care to announce, was not only to -regenerate Germany, but the human race. Forthwith, all Germany is in -movement. Princes, nobles, commons, towns, cities, abet the great -innovator. Lords and ladies of high estate write to Basidow to ask -his advice. Mothers of families place his books in the hands of their -children. The old schools founded by Melanchthon are forsaken. A -college, designed to educate these reformers of mankind, is founded -under the name of the ‘Philanthropian,’ blazes for a moment, and -disappears. The enthusiasm drops, leaving behind it confusion and doubt. - -The real spirit of the age was to reject every form of mysticism, -and to cling in all things to the evidence most palpable to the -understanding. Nevertheless, in this violent perturbation of mind, men, -not knowing as yet which way to look, cast themselves suddenly on the -supernatural. On the eve of the French Revolution, Europe was covered -with strange fraternities and secret societies, which only revived -under new names delusions that had long been forgotten. Such, were the -doctrines of Swedenborg, of the Martinists, of the Freemasons, the -Illuminati, the Rosicrucians, the disciples of Strict Abstinence, the -Mesmerists, and many other varieties of similar sects. Many of these -sects originally contemplated no more than the private advantage of -their members. But all of them now aspired to embrace the destinies -of mankind. Most of them had been, at the time of their birth, wholly -philosophical or religious: all now turned at once to politics, and -were absorbed in them. By different means they all proposed to bring -about the regeneration of society and the reform of governments. -It is especially worthy of remark that this sense of unrest, this -perturbation of the human mind which I am describing, did not manifest -itself in the lower classes, which bore nevertheless the burden of -existing abuses. Those classes were still motionless and inert. Not -the poor man, but the rich man was tossing in this feverish condition: -the movement sunk not lower than the upper rank of the middle classes. -Nowadays secret societies are filled by poor workmen, obscure artisans, -or ignorant peasants. At the time I am speaking of they consisted -entirely of princes, great nobles, capitalists, merchants, and men of -letters. - -When in 1786 the secret papers of the Illuminati were seized in the -hands of their principal chiefs, many anarchical documents were found -among them, in which personal property was denounced as the source -of all evil, and absolute equality of conditions was vaunted. In the -archives of the same sect a list of adepts was found. It consisted -entirely of the most distinguished names in Germany, princes, great -nobles, and ministers: the founder of the sect was himself a professor -of canon law. The King of Poland and Prince Frederick of Prussia were -Rosicrucians. The new King of Prussia, who had just succeeded Frederick -the Great on the throne, immediately sent for the leading Rosicrucians -and intrusted to them important missions.[93] ‘It is asserted,’ says -Mounier[94] in his books on these sects, ‘that several great personages -of France and Germany, some of whom were Protestants, took the tonsure -in order to be admitted into the sect of Strict Observance.’ - -Another thing well worthy of notice: it was a time when the sciences -had discredited the marvellous, as they became more positive and more -certain--when the inexplicable was easily taken for the false, and -when in all things reason claimed to supersede authority, reality the -imaginary, and free inquiry faith: nevertheless there was not one of -the sects I have just mentioned but had some point of contact with the -supernatural; all of them ended in some fantastic conclusion. Some of -them were imbued with mystical conceptions: others fancied they had -found out the secret to change some of the laws of nature. At that -moment every species of enthusiasm might pass for science, every -dreamer could find listeners, every impostor could find believers: -nothing is more characteristic of the perplexed and agitated condition -of men’s minds, running to and fro, like a benighted traveller who -has lost his way, and who, instead of getting onward, doubles back -upon his own footsteps. And it was not the common herd of the people -who were at the head of these extravagances; men of letters, men of -learning believed in alchemy, in the visible action of the demon, in -the transmutation of metals, in the apparition of ghosts. Strange -instance of belief in every form of absurdity, growing amidst the decay -of religious convictions--of men putting faith in every invisible and -supernatural influence, except in that of God! - -These mountebanks were the especial delight of sovereigns. Forster -writes to his father from Cassel in 1782: ‘An old French adventuress -is here who shows spirits to the Landgrave, and receives 150 louis -d’or. He is vain enough to think that the devil may take the trouble to -tempt him in person. She has with her another Frenchman who casts out -bad spirits from the afflicted,’ etc. etc. Great monarchs had at their -courts charlatans of the first water--Cagliostro, the Count de St. -Germain or Mesmer: the little princes were fain to put up, for want of -better, with ridiculous little tricksters. - -The aspect of this society was nevertheless one of the most imposing -which has ever been presented to the world, in spite of the errors and -follies of the age. Never had humanity been prouder of itself than at -that moment, for at no other moment, from the birth of all the ages, -had man believed in his own omnipotence. The whole of Europe resembled -a camp, awakening at break of day, bustling at first in different -directions, until the rising sun points out the destined track and -illuminates the road of march. Alas! how little do those who come at -the close of a great revolution resemble those who begin it,--full of -lofty hopes, of generous designs, of stores of energy they are ready -to pour forth, of noble delusions, of unselfish disinterestedness. -Many contemporary writers, unable to discern the general causes which -had produced the strange subversion of society they were witnessing, -attributed it to a conspiracy of secret societies.[95] As if any -private conspiracy could ever explain a movement of such depth and so -destructive of human institutions. The secret societies were certainly -not the cause of the Revolution: but they must be considered as one of -the most conspicuous signs of its approach. - -They were not the only signs. - -It would be a mistake to suppose that the American Revolution was -hailed with ardent sympathy in France alone: the noise of it went -forth to the ends of Europe: everywhere it was regarded as a beacon. -Steffens, who fifty years later took so active a part in rousing -Germany against France, relates in his Memoirs, that in early childhood -the first thing that excited him was the cause of American independence. - -‘I still remember vividly,’ says he, ‘what happened at Elsinore and in -the roadstead, on the day when that peace was signed which secured the -triumph of freedom. The day was fine; the roadstead was full of people -of all nations. We awaited with eager impatience the very dawn. All -the ships were dressed--the masts ornamented with pennons, everything -covered with flags; the weather was calm, with just wind enough to -cause the gay bunting to flutter in the breeze; the boom of cannon, -the cheers of the crews on deck, completed the festal character of the -day. My father had invited some friends to his table; they drank to the -victory of the Americans and the triumph of the popular cause, whilst -a dim presentiment that great events would result from this triumph -mingled with their rejoicings. It was the bright and cheering dawn of -a bloody day. My father sought to imbue us with the love of political -freedom. Contrary to the habit of the house, he had us brought to -table; where he impressed on us the importance of the event we were -witnessing, and bade us drink with him and his guests to the welfare of -the new commonwealth.’[96] - -Of the men who, in every corner of old Europe, felt themselves thus -moved by the deeds of a small community in the New World, not one -thoroughly understood the deep and secret cause of his own emotion, yet -all heard a signal in that distant sound. What it announced was still -unknown. It was the voice of John crying in the wilderness that new -times were at hand. - -Seek not to assign to these facts which I have been relating any -peculiar cause: all of them were different symptoms of the same social -disease. On all hands the old institutions and the old powers no longer -fitted accurately the new condition and the new wants of man. Hence -that strange unrest which led even the great and the worldly to regard -their own state of life as intolerable. Hence that universal thirst for -change, which came unbidden to every mind, though no one knew as yet -how that change could be brought about. An internal and spontaneous -impulse seemed to shake at once the whole fabric of society, and -disturbed to their foundations the ideas and habits of every man. To -hold back was felt to be impossible: yet none knew on which side they -would incline; and the whole of Europe was in the condition of a huge -mass which oscillates before it falls. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[85] ‘Correspondence of George Forster,’ i. 257. - -[86] _Idem_, ii. 286. - -[87] See ‘Waldemar’: a philosophical novel, by Jacobi, written in 1779. -Notwithstanding its defects, which are immense, this book made a great -impression, because these defects were those of the age. - -[88] The word in the French text is _confiance_--‘l’image de la -_confiance_ et de la mort.’ But this expression appears to me -unintelligible, and the word has probably been wrongly printed or -wrongly transcribed. M. de Tocqueville’s handwriting was singularly -illegible, and these detached notes were written in characters which -he was himself not always able to read. The passage here cited is from -Vandelbourg’s French translation of Jacobi’s ‘Waldemar,’ where it might -be verified (Tom. i. p. 154.)--H. R. - -[89] Letter of Johann Müller to Baron de Salis, August 6th, 1789. - -[90] Fox to Mr. Fitzpatrick, July 30th, 1789. (‘Memorials and -Correspondence of Fox,’ ii. 361.) - -[91] Life of Perthes, p. 177; and of Stolberg, p. 179--in same book. - -[92] Not a man of education, of whatever rank, would pass through -the town where Forster lived without coming to converse with him. -Princes invited him, nobles courted him, the commonalty thronged about -him, the learned were intensely interested by his conversation. To -Michaelis, Heyne, Herder, and others who were endeavouring to solve -the mystery of the antiquity and history of mankind, Forster seemed to -open the sources of the primæval world by describing those populations -of another hemisphere which had not come in contact with any form of -civilisation. - -[93] See for these details Schlosser’s ‘History of the Eighteenth -Century,’ and Forster’s Correspondence. - -[94] Mounier’s book, published at Tübingen in 1801, is entitled -‘Influence attribué aux Philosophes, aux Francs-maçons et aux Illuminés -sur la Révolution.’ - -[95] This was the view taken by the Abbé Barruel in his book on -Jacobinism. In 4 vols. - -[96] ‘Memoirs of Henry Steffens.’ Breslau: 1840. Steffens was born in -1775, at Stavagner, in Norway. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - - HOW THIS VAGUE PERTURBATION OF THE HUMAN MIND SUDDENLY BECAME IN - FRANCE A POSITIVE PASSION, AND WHAT FORM THIS PASSION AT FIRST - ASSUMED. - - -In the year 1787 this vague perturbation of the human mind, which I -have just described, and which had for some time past been agitating -the whole of Europe without any precise direction, suddenly became in -France an active passion directed to a positive object. But, strange -to say, this object was not that which the French Revolution was to -attain: and the men who were first and most keenly affected by this new -passion were precisely those whom the Revolution was to devour. - -At first, indeed, it was not so much the equality of rights as -political freedom which was looked for; and the Frenchmen who were -first moved themselves, and who set society in motion, belonged not to -the lower but to the highest order. Before it sunk down to the people, -this new-born detestation of absolute and arbitrary power burst forth -amongst the nobles, the clergy, the magistracy, the most privileged of -the middle classes,--those in short who, coming nearest in the State -to the master, had more than others the means of resisting him and the -hope of sharing his power. - -But why was the hatred of despotism the first symptom? Was it not -because in this state of general dissatisfaction, the common ground on -which it was most easy to agree was that of war against a political -power, which either oppressed every one alike or supported that by -which every one was oppressed; and because the noble and the rich found -in liberty the only mode of expressing this dissatisfaction, which they -felt more than any other class? - -I shall not relate how Louis XVI. was led by financial considerations -to convoke about him, in an assembly, the members of the nobility, -the clergy, and the upper rank of the commons, and to submit to this -body of ‘Notables’ the state of affairs. I am discussing history, -not narrating it. It is well known that this assembly, which met at -Versailles on the 22nd February, 1787, consisted of nine peers of -France, twenty noblemen, eight privy councillors, four masters of -requests, ten marshals of France, thirteen archbishops or bishops, -eighteen chief judges, twenty-two municipal officers of different -cities, twelve deputies of the provinces which had retained their -local estates, and some other magistrates--in all from 125 to 130 -members.[97] Henry IV. had once before used the same means to postpone -the meeting of the States-General and to obtain without them a sort of -public sanction to his measures: but the times were changed. In 1596 -France was at the close of a long revolution, wearied by her efforts, -and distrustful of her powers, seeking nothing but rest, and asking -of her rulers no more than an external deference. The Notables caused -her without difficulty to forget the States-General. But in 1787 they -only revived the recollection of them in her memory. In the reign of -Henry IV., these princes, these nobles, these bishops, these wealthy -commoners who were summoned to advise the King, were still the masters -of society. They could therefore control the movement they had set on -foot. Under Louis XVI. in 1787 these same classes retained only the -externals of power. We have seen that the substance of it was lost to -them for ever. They were, so to speak, hollow bodies, resonant but -easily crushed: still capable of exciting the people, incapable of -directing it. - -This great change had come about insensibly and imperceptibly. By none -was it clearly perceived. Those most affected by it knew not that it -had taken place. Even their opponents doubted it. The whole nation had -lived so long apart from its own concerns, that it took but a hazy -view of its condition. All the evils from which it suffered seemed to -have merged in a spirit of opposition and a dislike for the existing -Government. No sooner were the Notables assembled than, forgetting -that they were the nominees of the sovereign, chosen by him to give -their advice and not their injunctions, they proceeded to act as the -representatives of the country. They demanded the public accounts, -they censured the acts of the Government, they attacked most of the -measures, the execution of which they were merely asked to facilitate. -Their assistance was sought: they proffered their opposition. - -Public opinion instantly rose in their favour, and threw its whole -weight on their side. Then was witnessed the strange spectacle of a -Government proposing measures favourable to the people without ceasing -to be unpopular, and of an Assembly resisting these measures with the -support of public favour. - -Thus the Government proposed to reform the salt tax (_la gabelle_), -which pressed so heavily and often so cruelly on the people. It would -have abolished forced labour, reformed the _taille_, and suppressed -the _twentieths_, a species of tax from which the upper classes had -continued to make themselves exempt. In place of these taxes, which -were to be abolished or reformed, a land-tax was to be imposed, on the -very same basis which has since become the basis of the land-tax of -France, and the custom-houses, which placed grievous restrictions on -trade and industry, were to be removed to the frontier of the kingdom. -Beside, and almost in the place of, the Intendants who administered -each province, an elective body was to be constituted, with the power -not only of watching the conduct of public business, but, in most -cases, of directing it. All these measures were conformable to the -spirit of the times. They were resisted or postponed by the Notables. -Nevertheless, the Government remained unpopular, and the Notables had -the public cry in their favour. - -Fearing that he had not been understood, the Minister, Calonne, -explained in a public document that the effect of the new laws would -be to relieve the people from a portion of the taxes, and to throw -that portion on the rich. That was true, but the Minister was still -unpopular. ‘The clergy,’ said he elsewhere, ‘are, before all things, -citizens and subjects. They must pay taxes like all the rest. If the -clergy have debts, a part of their property must be sold to discharge -them.’ That again was to aim at one of the tenderest points of public -opinion: the point was touched, but the public were unmoved. - -On the question of the reform of the _taille_, the Notables opposed -it on the ground that it could not relieve those who paid it without -imposing an excessive burden on the other tax-payers, especially on -the nobility and clergy, _whose privileges on the score of taxation -had already been reduced to almost nothing_. The abolition of internal -custom-houses was objected to peremptorily on behalf of the privileges -of certain provinces, which were to be treated with great forbearance. - -They highly approved in principle the creation of provincial -assemblies. But they desired that, instead of uniting together the -three Orders in these small local bodies, they should be separated, and -always be presided over by a nobleman or a prelate, for, said some of -the Committees of Notables, ‘these assemblies would tend to democracy -if they were not guided by the superior lights of the first Order.’ - -Nevertheless, the popularity of the Notables remained unshaken to the -end: nay, it was continually on the increase. They were applauded, -incited, encouraged: and when they resisted the Government, they were -loudly cheered on to the attack. The King, hastening to dismiss them, -thought himself obliged to offer them his public thanks. - -Not a few of these persons are said to have been amazed at this degree -of public favour and sudden power. They would have been far more -astonished at it if they could have foreseen what was about to follow: -if they had known that these same laws, which they had resisted with so -much popular applause, were founded on the very principles which were -to triumph in the Revolution; that the traditional institutions which -they opposed to the innovations of the Government were precisely the -institutions which the Revolution was about to destroy. - -That which caused the popularity of these Notables was not the form of -their opposition, but the opposition itself. They criticised the abuses -of the Government; they condemned its prodigality; they demanded an -account of its expenditure; they spoke of the constitutional laws of -the country, of the fundamental principles which limit the unlimited -power of the Crown, and, without precisely demanding the interposition -of the nation in the government by the States-General, they perpetually -suggested that idea. This was enough. - -The Government had already long been suffering from a malady which -is the endemic and incurable disease of powers that have undertaken -to order, to foresee, to do everything. It had assumed a universal -responsibility. However men might differ in the grounds of their -complaints, they agreed in blaming the common source of them; what had -hitherto been no more than a general inclination of mind, then became a -universal and impetuous passion. All the secret sores caused by daily -contact with dilapidated institutions, which chafed both manners and -opinion in a thousand places--all the smothered animosities kept alive -by divided classes, by contested positions, by absurd or oppressive -distinctions, rose against the supreme power. Long had they sought a -pathway to the light of day: that path once opened they rushed blindly -along it. It was not their natural path, but it was the first they -found open. Hatred of arbitrary power became then their sole passion, -and the Government their common enemy. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[97] Buchez and Roux, ‘Parliamentary History of the Revolution,’ p. 480. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - - HOW THE PARLIAMENTS OF FRANCE, FOLLOWING PRECEDENT, OVERTHREW THE - MONARCHY. - - -The feudal Government, whose ruins still sheltered the nation, had been -a government in which arbitrary power, violence, and great freedom -were commingled. Under its laws, if actions had often been restricted, -speech was habitually independent and bold. The legislative power was -exercised by kings, but never without control. When the great political -assemblies of France ceased to be, the Parliaments took, in some sort, -the place of them; and before they enregistered in the code that -regulated their judicial proceedings a new law decreed by the King, -they stated to the sovereign their objections, and made known to him -their opinions. - -Much inquiry has been made as to the first origin of this usurpation -of legislative power by judicial authority. It is vain to seek that -origin elsewhere than in the general manners of the time, which could -not tolerate, or even conceive, a power so absolute and secret, as -not, at least, to admit of discussion on the terms of obedience. The -institution was in nowise premeditated. It sprang spontaneously from -the very root of the ideas then prevalent and from the usages alike of -subjects and of kings. - -An edict, before it was put in force, was sent down to the Parliament. -The agents of the Crown explained its principles and its merits; -the magistrates discussed it. All this was done in public, in open -debate, with that virility which characterised all the institutions -of the Middle Ages. It frequently happened that the Parliament sent -deputies to the King, several times over, to supplicate him to modify -or withdraw an edict. If the King came down in person, he allowed his -own law to be debated with vivacity, sometimes with violence, in his -presence. But when at last his will was made known, all was silence and -obedience: for the magistracy acknowledged that they were no more than -the first officers and representatives of the sovereign; their duty was -to advise but not to coerce him. - -In 1787, the ancient precedents of the monarchy were faithfully and -strictly followed. The old machine of Royal government was again set in -motion: but it became apparent that the machine was propelled by some -new motive power of an unknown kind, which, instead of causing it to -move onwards, was about to break it in pieces. - -The King then, according to custom, caused the new edicts to be brought -down to the Parliament: and the Parliament, equally according to -custom, laid its humble remonstrance at the steps of the throne.[98] - -The King replied; and Parliaments insisted. For centuries things had -gone on thus, and the nation heard from time to time this sort of -political dialogue carried on above its head between the sovereign and -his magistrates. The practice had only been interrupted during the -reign of Louis XIV. and for a time. But the novelty lay in the subject -of the debate and the nature of the arguments. - -This time the Parliament, before it proceeded to register the edicts, -called for all the accounts of the finance department, which we should -now call the budget of the State, in support of the measures; and as -the King naturally declined to hand over the entire government to a -body which was irresponsible and non-elected, and so to share the -legislative power with a Court of Justice, the Parliament then declared -that the nation alone had the right to raise fresh taxes,[99] and -thereupon demanded that the nation should be convoked. The Parliament -grasped the very heart of the people, but held it only for a moment. - -The arguments put forward by the Magistracy in support of their demands -were not less novel than the demands themselves. The King, they said, -was only the administrator and not the owner of the public fortune: -the representative and chief officer of the nation, not its master. -Sovereignty resided in the nation itself. The nation alone could decide -great questions: its rights were not dependent on the will of the -sovereign; they took their being from the nature of man; they were as -inalienable and indestructible as human nature itself. ‘The institution -of the States-General,’ they declared, ‘is a principle founded on the -rights of man and confirmed by reason.’[100] ‘Common interest has -combined men in society, and given rise to governments: that alone can -maintain them.’[101] ‘No prescription of the States-General can run -against the nature of things or against the imperishable rights of the -nation.’[102] ‘Public opinion is rarely mistaken: it is rare that men -receive impressions contrary to truth.’[103] - -The King having exiled the Parliament from Paris, that body protested -that liberty of speech and action was an inalienable right of man, and -could not be wrested from him without tyranny, save by the regular -forms of judicial procedure. - -It must not be supposed that the Parliaments alleged these principles -as novelties:[104] they were, on the contrary, very industriously -traced up to the cradle of the monarchy. The judgments or decrees -of the Parliament of Paris were crammed with historical quotations, -frequently borrowed from the Middle Ages, in barbarous Latin. They are -full of provincial capitulations, royal ordinances, beds of justice, -rules, privileges, and precedents, which lost themselves in the shadows -of the past. - -Strangely enough, at the same moment that the Parliament of -Franche-Comté proclaimed the indestructible rights of the nation, it -protested against any infraction of the peculiar privileges of the -province as they existed at the period of annexation under Louis XIV. -So again the Parliament of Normandy invoked the States-General of the -kingdom ‘to inaugurate a new order of things,’ but not the less did it -demand, in the name of its own feudal traditions, the restoration of -the States of Normandy, as the peculiar privilege of that province: so -curiously were ideas, just born into the world, enclosed and swathed in -these remains of antiquity. - -It was a tradition of the old monarchy that the Parliament should -use in its remonstrances animated and almost violent language: a -certain exaggeration of words was conceded to it. The most absolute -sovereigns had tolerated this licence of speech, by reason, indeed, -of the powerlessness of those who uttered it: as they were certain -in the end to be reduced to obedience and compressed within narrow -limits, the indulgence of a free utterance was readily left to them. -The Parliament, moreover, was wont to make a great deal of noise for a -small result: what it said went beyond what it meant: this franchise -had become a sort of right of the magistracy. - -On this occasion the Parliament carried their ancient freedom to -a degree of licence never heard before; for a new-born fire was -burning in their hearts and unconsciously inflamed their language. -Certainly, among the governments of our own time, which are almost all, -nevertheless, governments maintained by the sword, not one could allow -its ministers and its measures to be attacked in such terms by the -representatives of its own authority. - -‘Despotism, Sire,’ said the Parliament of Paris, ‘is substituted -for the laws of the realm, and the magistracy is no more than the -instrument of arbitrary power.... Would that Your Majesty could -interrogate the victims of that power, confined forgotten in -impenetrable prisons, the abode of silence and injustice; those whom -intrigue, cupidity, the jealousy of power, the thirst of vengeance, the -fear or the hatred of justice, private pique or personal convenience, -have caused to be put there.’ Then drawing a parallel between two -citizens, one rich and the other poor, the latter being oppressed by -the former, the Parliament added--‘Is indigence then a crime? Have -flesh and blood no claims? Does a man without credit, or a poor man, -cease to be a citizen?’ - -It was especially on the subject of taxation and against the collectors -of the revenue that, even in the calmest times, the judicial bodies -were accustomed to inveigh with extreme violence. No sooner was the -new tax announced than the Parliament of Paris declared it to be -disastrous; consternation followed the proposal; its adoption would -give rise to a general mourning.[105] The population, harassed by -fiscal exactions, were at their wits’ end.[106] To arrogate to one’s -self the power of levying tribute without the States-General was to -declare aloud that the sovereign seeks not to be a king of France, but -a king of serfs.[107] The substance of the people was become the prey -of the cupidity of courtiers and the rapacity of contractors.[108] - -Great as was the excitement of that time, it would still be very -difficult to account for the language of these magistrates without -recalling what had been said so many times before on the same subject. -As under the old monarchy most of the taxes were levied on account -of private persons, who held them on farm, or by their agents; for -centuries past men had accustomed themselves to look upon taxation -as it bore on the private emolument of certain individuals, and not -as the common income of the nation. Taxes were commonly denounced as -_odious exactions_. The salt duty was styled the _infernal machine -of the gabelle_: those who collected the taxes were spoken of as -public robbers, enriched by the poverty of everybody else. So said the -tax-payers; the courts of justice held the same language; and even the -Government, which had leased to these very farmers the rights they -exercised, scarcely spoke differently of them. It seemed as if their -business was not its own, and that it sought a way of escape amidst the -clamour which pursued its own agents. - -When, therefore, the Parliament of Paris spoke in this manner on the -subject of taxes, it merely followed an old and general practice. The -play was the same, but the audience was changed; and the clamour, -instead of dying away as it had commonly done within the limit of the -classes whom their privileges caused to be but little affected by -taxation, was now so loud and so reiterated that it penetrated to those -classes which bore the heaviest burden, and ere long filled them with -indignation. - -If the Parliament employed new arguments to vindicate its own -rights, the Government employed arguments not less new in defence -of its ancient prerogatives. For example, in a pamphlet attributed -to the Court, which appeared about that time, the following passage -occurs:--‘It is a question of _privilege_ which excites the Parliament. -They want to retain their exemption from taxation; this is nothing but -a formidable combination between the nobility of sword and gown to -continue under colour of liberty to humble and enslave the commons, -whom the King alone defends, and means to raise.’[109] - -‘My object has been’ said Calonne, ‘to slay the hydra of privileges, -exemptions, and abuses.’[110] - -Whilst, however, these discussions were going on upon the principle -of government, the daily work of administration threatened to stop: -there was no money. The Parliament had rejected the measures relating -to taxation. It refused to sanction a loan. In this perplexity the -King, seeing that he could not gain over the Assembly, attempted to -coerce it. He went down to the Chamber, and before he proceeded to -command their submission, less eager to exercise his rights than -to confirm them, he caused the Edicts to be again debated in his -presence. He began by laying down that his authority was absolute. The -legislative power resided in its integrity in his hands. He required no -extraordinary powers to carry on the government. The States-General, -when he chose to consult them, could only tender advice; he was still -the supreme arbiter of their representations and their grievances. This -sitting took place on November 19th, 1787. Having said thus much, every -one was allowed to speak in his presence. The most opposite and often -violent propositions were asserted to his face during a discussion of -eight hours; after which he withdrew, declaring, as his last word, that -he refused to convoke the States-General at present, though he promised -them for the year 1791. - -Yet, after having thus suffered his most acknowledged and least -formidable rights to be contested in his own presence, the King -resolved to resume the exercise of those which were most disputed and -most unpopular. His own act had opened the mouths of the speakers, but -he sought to punish them for having spoken. In one of its remonstrances -the Parliament of Paris had said, ‘Sire, the French monarchy would -be reduced to a state of despotism if, under the King’s authority, -Ministers could dispose of personal freedom by _lettres de cachet_, and -of the rights of property by _lits de justice_, of civil and criminal -affairs by _scire facias_,[111] and of the judicature itself by partial -exile or by the arbitrary translation of judges.’ - -To which the King replied: ‘If the greater number of votes in my Courts -can constrain my will, the monarchy would become a mere aristocracy -of magistrates.’ ‘Sire,’ rejoined the Parliament, ‘no aristocracy in -France, but no despotism.’[112] - -Two men, in the course of this struggle, had especially distinguished -themselves by the boldness of their speeches and by their revolutionary -attitude: these were M. Goislard and M. d’Eprémenil. It was resolved -to arrest them. Then occurred a scene, the prelude, so to speak, of -the great tragedy that was to follow, well calculated to exhibit an -easy-going Government under the aspect of tyranny. - -Informed of the resolution taken against them, these two magistrates -left their homes, and took refuge in the Parliament itself, in the -full dress of their Order, where they were lost amidst the crowd of -judges forming that great body. The Palace of Justice was surrounded -by troops, and the doors guarded. Viscount d’Agoult, who commanded -them, appeared alone in the great Chamber. The whole Parliament was -assembled, and sitting in the most solemn form. The number of the -judges, the venerable antiquity of the Court, the dignity of their -dress, the simplicity of their demeanour, the extent of their power, -the majesty of the very hall, filled with all the memorials of our -history, all contributed to make the Parliament the greatest and most -honoured thing in France, after the Throne. - -In presence of such an Assembly the officer stood at first at gaze. -He was asked who sent him there. He answered in rough but embarrassed -accents, and demanded that the two members whom he was ordered to -arrest should be pointed out to him. The Parliament sat motionless -and silent. The officer withdrew--re-entered--then withdrew again; -the Parliament, still motionless and silent, neither resisting nor -yielding. The time of year was that when the days are shortest. Night -came on. The troops lit fires round the approaches to the Palace, as -round a besieged fort. The populace, astonished by so unwonted a sight, -surrounded them in crowds, but stood aloof: the populace was touched -but not yet excited, and therefore stood aloof to contemplate, by the -light of those bivouac fires, a scene so new and unwonted under the -monarchy. For there it might see how the oldest Government in Europe -applied itself to teach the people to outrage the majesty of the oldest -institutions, and to violate in their sanctuary the most august of -ancient powers. - -This lasted till midnight, when D’Eprémenil at last rose. He thanked -the Parliament for the effort it had made to save him. He declined -to trespass longer on the generous sympathy of his colleagues. He -commended the commonwealth and his children to their care, and, -descending the steps of the court, surrendered himself to the officer. -It seemed as if he was leaving that assembly to mount the scaffold. -The scaffold, indeed, he was one day to mount, but that was in other -times and under other powers. The only living witness of this strange -scene, Duke Pasquier, has told me that at these words of D’Eprémenil -the whole Assembly burst into tears, as if it had been Regulus marching -out of Rome to return to the horrid death which awaited him in -Carthage. The Marshal de Noailles sobbed aloud. Alas! how many tears -were ere long to be shed on loftier woes than these. Such grief was no -doubt exaggerated, but not unreal. At the commencement of a revolution -the vivacity of emotions greatly exceeds the importance of events, as -at the close of revolutions it falls short of them. - -Having thus struck a blow at the whole body of the Parliaments, -represented by their chief, it only remained to annihilate their -power. Six edicts were simultaneously published.[113] These edicts, -which roused all France, were designed to effect several of the -most important and useful reforms which the Revolution has since -accomplished: the separation of the legislative and judicial powers, -the abolition of exceptional courts of justice, and the establishment -of all the principles which, to this day, govern the judicial -organisation of France, both civil and criminal. All these reforms -were conceived in the true spirit of the age, and met the real and -lasting wants of society. But, as they were aimed at the privileged -jurisdiction of the Parliaments, they struck down the idol of the hour, -and they emanated from a power which was detested. That was enough. -In the eyes of the nation these new edicts were a triumph of absolute -government. The time had not yet come when everything may be pardoned -by democracy to despotism in exchange for order and equality. In a -moment the nation rose. Each Parliament became at once a focus of -resistance round which the Orders of the province grouped themselves, -so as to present a firm front to the action of the central power of -government. - -France was at that time divided, as is well known, into thirteen -judicial provinces, each of which was attached to a Parliament. All -these Parliaments were absolutely independent of one another, all of -them had equal prerogatives, all of them were invested with the same -right of discussing the mandates of the legislator before submitting to -them. This organisation will be seen to have been natural, on looking -back to the time when most of these courts of justice were founded. -The different parts of France were so dissimilar in their interests, -their disposition, their customs, and their manners, that the same -legislation could not be applied to all of them at once. As a distinct -law was usually enacted for each province, it was natural that in each -province there should be a Parliament whose duty it was to test this -law. In more recent times, the French having become more similar, one -law sufficed for all: but the right of testing the law remained divided. - -An edict of the King applying equally to the whole of France, after it -had been accepted and executed in a certain manner in one part of the -territory, might still be modified or contested in the twelve other -parts. That was the right, but that was not the custom. For a long -period of time the separate Parliaments had ceased to contest anything, -save the administrative rules, which might be peculiar to their own -province. They did not debate the general laws of the kingdom, unless -the peculiar interests of their own province seemed to be affected -by some one of their provisions. As for the principle of such laws, -their opportunity or efficiency, these were considerations they did -not commonly entertain. On these points they were wont to rely on the -Parliament of Paris, which, by a sort of tacit agreement, was looked up -to by all the other Parliaments as their political guide. - -On this occasion each Parliament chose to examine these edicts, as if -they concerned its own province alone, and as if it had been the sole -representative of France; each province chose, too, to distinguish -itself by a separate resistance in the midst of the general resistance -they encountered. All of these discussed the principle of each edict, -as well as its special application. A clause which had been accepted -without difficulty by one of these bodies was obstinately opposed -elsewhere: one of them barely notices what called forth the indignation -of another. Assailed by thirteen adversaries at once, each of which -attacked with different weapons and struck in different places, the -Government, amidst all these bodies, could not lay its hand upon a -single head. - -But, what was even more remarkable than the diversity of these -attacks, was the uniform intention which animated them. Each of the -thirteen courts struggled after its own fashion and upon its own soil, -but the sentiment which excited them was identically the same. The -remonstrances made at that time by the different Parliaments, and -published by them, would fill many volumes; but open the book where you -will, you seem to be reading the same page: always the same thoughts -expressed for the most part in the same words. All of them demanded -the States-General in the name of the imprescriptible rights of the -nation: all of them approved the conduct of the Parliament of Paris, -protested against the acts of violence directed against it, encouraged -it to resist, and imitated, as well as it could, not only its measures, -but the philosophical language of its opposition. ‘Subjects,’ said the -Parliament of Grenoble, ‘have rights as well as the sovereign--rights -which are essential to all who are not slaves.’ ‘The just man,’ said -the Parliament of Normandy, ‘does not change his principles when he -changes his abode.’ ‘The King,’ said the Parliament of Besançon, -‘cannot wish to have for his subjects humiliated slaves.’[114] The -tumult raised at the same time by all these magistrates scattered -over the surface of the country sounds like the confused noise of a -multitude: listen attentively to what they are saying: it is as the -voice of one man. - -What is it then that the country was saying thus simultaneously? -Everywhere you find the same ideas and the same expressions, so that -beneath the unity of the judicature you discover the unity of the -nation: and through this multiplicity of old institutions, of local -customs, of provincial privileges, of different usages, which seemed -to sever France into so many different peoples, each living a separate -life, you discern one of the nations of the earth in which the greatest -degree of similarity subsists between man and man. This movement of -the Parliaments, at once multiple and uniform, attacking like a crowd, -striking like a single arm,--this judicial insurrection was more -dangerous to the Government than all other insurrections, even military -revolt; because it turned against the Government that regular, civil, -and moral power which is the habitual instrument of authority. The -strength of an army may coerce for a day, but the constant defence of -Governments lies in courts of justice. Another striking point in this -resistance of the judicial bodies, was not so much the mischief they -themselves did to the Government, as that which they allowed to be -done to it by others. They established, for instance, the worst form -of liberty of the press: that, namely, which springs not from a right, -but from the non-execution of the laws. They introduced, too, the right -of holding promiscuous meetings, so that the different members of each -Order and the Orders themselves could remove for a time the barrier -which divided them, and concert a common course of action. - -Thus it was that all the Orders in each province engaged gradually -in the struggle, but not all at the same time or in the same manner. -The nobility were the first and boldest champions in that contest -against the absolute powers of the King.[115] It was in the place -of the aristocracy that absolute government had taken root: they -were the first to be humbled and annoyed by some obscure agent of -the central power, who, under the name of an Intendant, was sent -perpetually to regulate and transact behind their backs the smallest -local affairs: they had produced not a few of the writers who had -protested with the greatest energy against despotism; free institutions -and the new opinions had almost everywhere found in the nobles their -chief supporters. Independently of their own grievances, they were -carried away by the common passion which had become universal, as is -demonstrated by the nature of their attacks. Their complaint was not -that their peculiar privileges had been violated, but that the common -law of the realm had been trampled under foot, the provincial Estates -abolished, the States-General interrupted, the nation treated like a -minor, and the country deprived of the management of its own affairs. - -At this first period of the Revolution, when hostilities had not -yet broken out amongst the ranks of society, the language of the -aristocracy was exactly the same as that of the other classes, -distinguished only by going greater lengths and taking a higher tone. -Their opposition had something republican about it: it was the same -feeling animating prouder men and souls more accustomed to live in -contact with the world’s greatness. - -A man who had till then been a violent enemy of the privileged orders, -having been present at one of the meetings where the opposition was -organised and where the nobles had made a sacrifice of all their rights -amidst the applause of the commons, relates this scene in a letter -to a friend and exclaims with enthusiasm, ‘Our nobility (how truly -a nobility!) has come down to point out our rights, to defend them -with us: I have heard it with my own ears; free elections, equality -of numbers, equality of taxation--every heart was touched by their -disinterestedness and kindled by their patriotism.’[116] - -When public rejoicings took place at Grenoble upon the news of the -dismissal of the Archbishop of Sens, August 29th, 1788, the city was -instantly illuminated and covered with transparencies, on one of which -the following lines were read:-- - - ‘Nobles, vous méritez le sort qui vous décore, - De l’État chancelant vous êtes les soutiens. - La nation, par vous, va briser ses liens; - Déjà du plus beau jour on voit briller l’aurore.’ - -In Brittany the nobles were ready to arm the peasants, in order to -resist the Royal authorities; and at Paris when the first riot broke -out (August 24th, 1788) which was feebly and indecisively repressed -by the army, several of the officers, who belonged, as is well -known, to the nobility, resigned their commissions rather than shed -the blood of the people. The Parliament complimented them on their -conduct, and called them ‘those noble and generous soldiers whom the -purity and delicacy of their sentiments had compelled to resign their -commissions.’[117] - -The opposition of the clergy was not less decided though more discreet. -It naturally assumed the forms appropriate to the clerical body. When -the Parliament of Paris was exiled to Troyes and received the homage of -all the public bodies of that city, the Chapter of the Cathedral, as -the organ of the clergy, complimented the Parliament in the following -terms:--‘The vigour restored to the constitutional maxims of the -monarchy has succeeded in defeating the territorial subsidy, and you -have taught the Treasury to respect the sacred rights of property.’ -‘The general mourning of the nation and your own removal from your -duties and from the bosom of your families were to us a poignant -spectacle, and whilst these august walls echoed the sounds of public -grief, we carried into the Sanctuary our private sorrow and our -prayers.’--(Official Papers, 1787.) - -Wherever the three Orders combined in opposition, the clergy made -their appearance. Usually the Bishop spoke little, but he took the -chair which was offered him. The famous meeting at Romans, that which -protested with the greatest violence against the Edicts of May, was -alternately presided over by the Archbishop of Narbonne and the -Archbishop of Vienne.[118] - -Generally speaking, parish priests were seen at all the meetings of the -Orders, where they took a lively and direct part in the debates. - -At the outset of the struggle the middle classes had shown themselves -timid and irresolute. Yet it was on those classes especially that the -Government had relied for consolation in its distress, and for aid -without abandoning its ancient prerogatives: the propositions of the -Government had been framed with peculiar regard to the interests of the -middle classes and to their passions. Long habituated to obedience, -they did not engage without apprehension in a course of resistance. -Their opposition was tempered with caution. They still flattered the -power to which they were opposed, and acknowledged its rights while -they contested the use of them. They seemed partly seduced by its -favours, and ready to yield to the Government, provided some share of -government were bestowed on themselves. Even when they appeared to -direct, the middle classes never ventured to walk alone; impelled by an -internal heat which they did not care to show, they sought rather to -turn the passions of the upper classes to their own advantage than to -increase the violence of them. But as the struggle was prolonged the -_bourgeoisie_ became more excited, more animated, more bold, until it -outstripped the other classes, assumed the leading part and kept it, -until the People appeared upon the stage. - -At this period of the contest not a trace is to be seen of a war of -classes. ‘All the Orders,’ said the Parliament of Toulouse, ‘breathe -nothing but concord, and their only ambition is to promote the common -happiness.’ - -A man, then unknown, but who afterwards became celebrated for his -talents and for his misfortunes, Barnave, in a paper written in defence -of the _Tiers-État_ pointed out this agreement of the three Orders, and -exclaimed, with the enthusiasm of the time, ‘Ministers of religion! -you obtained from the reverence of our forefathers the right to form -among yourselves the first Order of the State; you are an integral -part of the French Constitution, and you ought to maintain it. And -you, illustrious families! the monarchy has never ceased to flourish -under your protection; you created it at the cost of your blood, you -have many times saved it from the foreigner; save it now from internal -enemies. Secure to your children the splendid benefits your fathers -have handed down to you; the name of hero is not honoured under a -servile sky.’[119] - -These sentiments might be sincere; one sole passion paramount to other -passions pervaded all classes, namely, a spirit of resistance to the -Government as the common enemy, a spirit of opposition throughout, in -small as well as in great affairs, which struck at everything, and -assumed all shapes, even those which disfigured it. Some, in order -to resist the Government, laid stress on what remained of old local -franchises. Here a man stood up for some old privilege of his class, -some secular right of his calling or his corporation; there, another -man, forgetting his grievances and animosity against the privileged -classes, denounced an edict which, he said, would reduce to nothing the -seignorial jurisdictions, and would thus _strip the nobles of all the -dignity of their fiefs_. - -In this violent struggle every man grasped, as if by chance, the -weapon nearest at hand, even when it was the least suited to him. If -one took note of all the privileges, all the exclusive rights, all -the old municipal and provincial franchises which were at this epoch -claimed, asserted, and loudly demanded, the picture would be at once -very exact and very deceptive; it would appear as if the object of the -impending Revolution was not to destroy, but to restore, the old order -of society. So difficult is it for the individuals who are carried -along by one of the great movements of human society to distinguish -the true motive power amongst the causes by which they are themselves -impelled. Who would have imagined that the impulse which caused so -many traditional rights to be asserted was the very passion which was -leading irresistibly to their entire abolition?[120] - -Now let us close our ears for a moment to these tumultuous sounds, -proceeding from the middle and upper classes of the nation, to catch, -if we may, some whisper beginning to make itself heard from the midst -of the People. No sign that I can discover from this distance of time -announced that the rural population was at all agitated. The peasant -plodded onwards in his wonted track. That vast section of the nation -was still neutral, and, as it were, unseen.[121] - -Even in the towns the people remained a stranger to the excitement of -the upper classes, and indifferent to the stir which was going on above -its head. They listen; they watch, with some surprise, but with more -curiosity than anger. But no sooner did the agitation make itself felt -among them than it was found to have assumed a new character. When -the magistrates re-entered Paris in triumph, the people, which had -done nothing to defend these members of Parliament, arrested in their -places, gathered together tumultuously to hail their return. - -I have said in another part of this book that nothing was more frequent -under the old _régime_ than riots. The Government was so strong that it -willingly allowed these transient ebullitions to have free scope. But -on this occasion there were numerous indications that a very different -state of things had begun. It was a time when everything old assumed -new features--riots like everything else. Corn-riots had perpetually -occurred in France; but they were made by mobs without order, object, -or consistence. Now, on the contrary, broke out insurrection, as we -have since so often witnessed it, with its tocsin, its nocturnal -cries, its sanguinary placards; a fierce and cruel apparition; a mob -infuriated, yet organised and directed to some end, which rushes at -once into civil war, and shatters every obstacle. - -Upon the intelligence that the Parliament had prevailed, and that the -Archbishop of Sens retired from the Ministry, the populace of Paris -broke out in disorderly manifestations, burnt the minister in effigy, -and insulted the watch. These disturbances were, as usual, put down -by force; but the mob ran to arms, burnt the guard-houses, disarmed -the troops, attempted to set fire to the Hôtel Lamoignon, and was only -driven back by the King’s household troops. Such was the early but -terrible germ of the insurrections of the Revolution.[122] - -The Reign of Terror was already visible in disguise. Paris, which -nowadays a hundred thousand men scarcely keep in order, was then -protected by an indifferent sort of police called the watch. Paris -had in it neither barracks nor troops. The household troops and the -Swiss Guards were quartered in the environs. This time the watch was -powerless. - -In presence of so general and so novel an opposition, the Government -showed signs at first of surprise and of annoyance rather than of -defeat. It employed all its old weapons--proclamations, _lettres de -cachet_, exile--but it employed them in vain. Force was resorted to, -enough to irritate, not enough to terrify; moreover, a whole people -cannot be terrified. An attempt was made to excite the passions of the -multitude against the rich, the citizens against the aristocracy, the -lower magistrates against the courts of justice. It was the old game; -but this too was played in vain. New judges were appointed, but most -of the new magistrates refused to sit. Favours, money were proffered; -venality itself had given way to passion. An effort was made to divert -the public attention; but it remained concentrated. Unable to stop or -even to check the liberty of writing, the Government sought to use it -by opposing one press to another press. A number of little pamphlets -were published on its side, at no small cost.[123] Nobody read the -defence, but the myriad pamphlets that attacked it were devoured. All -these pamphlets were evolved from the abstract principles of Rousseau’s -_Contrat Social_. The Sovereign was to be a citizen king; every -infraction of the law was treason _against the nation_. Nothing in the -whole fabric of society was sound; the Court was a hateful den in which -famished courtiers devoured the spoils of the people. - -At length an incident occurred which hurried on the crisis. The -Parliament of Dauphiny had resisted like all the other Parliaments, -and had been smitten like them all. But nowhere did the cause which -it defended find a more general sympathy or more resolute champions. -Mutual class grievances were there perhaps more intense than in any -other place; but the prevailing excitement lulled for a time all -private passions; and, whereas in most of the other provinces each -class carried on its warfare against the Government separately and -without combination, in Dauphiny they regularly constituted themselves -into a political body and prepared for resistance. Dauphiny had -enjoyed for ages its own States, which had been suspended in 1618, -but not abolished. A few nobles, a few priests, and a few citizens -having met of their own accord in Grenoble, dared to call upon the -nobility, the clergy, and the commons to meet as provincial Estates in -a country-house near Grenoble, named Vizille. This building was an old -feudal castle, formerly the residence of the Dukes of Lesdiguières, but -recently purchased by a new family, that of Périer, to whom it belongs -to this day. No sooner had they met in this place, than the three -Orders constituted themselves, and an air of regularity was thrown -over their irregular proceedings. Forty-nine members of the clergy -were present, two hundred and thirty-three members of the nobility, -three hundred and ninety-one of the commons. The members of the whole -meeting were counted; but not to divide the Orders, it was decided, -without discussion, that the president should be chosen from one of -the two higher Orders, and the secretary from the commons: the Count -de Morges was called to the chair, M. Mounier was named secretary. -The Assembly then proceeded to deliberate, and protested in a body -against the Édicts of May and the suppression of the Parliament. They -demanded the restoration of the old Estates of the province which had -been arbitrarily and illegally suspended; they demanded that in these -Estates a double number of representatives should be given to the -commons; they called for the prompt convocation of the States-General, -and decided that on the spot a letter should be addressed to the King -stating their grievances and their demands. This letter, couched in -violent language and in a tone of civil war, was in fact immediately -signed by all the members. Similar protests had already been made, -similar demands had been expressed with equal violence; but nowhere as -yet had there been so signal an example of the union of all classes. -‘The members of the nobility and the clergy,’ says the Journal of the -House, ‘were complimented by a member of the commons on the loyalty -with which, laying aside former pretensions, they had hastened to do -justice to the commons, and on their zeal to support the union of the -three Orders.’ The President replied that the peers would always -be ready to act with their fellow-citizens for the salvation of the -country.[124] - -The Assembly of Vizille produced an amazing effect throughout France. -It was the last time that an event, happening elsewhere than in -Paris, has exercised a great influence on the general destinies of -the country. The Government feared that what Dauphiny had dared to -do might be imitated everywhere. Despairing at last of conquering -the resistance opposed to it, it declared itself beaten. Louis XVI. -dismissed his ministers, abolished or suspended his edicts, recalled -the Parliaments, and granted the States-General. This was not, it must -be well remarked, a concession made by the King on a point of detail, -it was a renunciation of absolute power; it was a participation in the -Government that he admitted and secured to the country by at length -conceding in earnest the States-General. One is astonished in reading -the writings of that time to find them speaking of a great revolution -already accomplished before 1789. It was in truth a great revolution, -but one destined to be swallowed up and lost in the immensity of the -Revolution about to follow. - -Numerous indeed and prodigious in extent were the faults that had to -be committed to bring affairs to the state they then were in. But the -Government of Louis XVI., having allowed itself to be driven to such a -point, cannot be condemned for giving way. No means of resistance were -at its disposal. Material force it could not use, as the army lent a -reluctant, a nerveless support to its policy. The law it could not use, -for the courts of justice were in opposition. In the old kingdom of -France, moreover, the absolute power of the Crown had never had a force -of its own nor possessed instruments depending solely on itself. It had -never assumed the aspect of military tyranny; it was not born in camps -and never had recourse to arms. It was essentially a civil power, a -work not of violence but of art. This Government was so organised as -easily to overpower individual resistance, but its constitution, its -precedents, its habits, and those of the nation forbade it to govern -against a majority in opposition. The power of the Crown had only -been established by dividing classes, by hedging them round with the -prejudices, the jealousies, the hatreds, peculiar to each of them, so -as never to have to do with more than one class at once, and to bring -the weight of all the others to bear against it. No sooner had these -different classes, sinking for a moment the barriers by which they had -been divided, met and agreed upon a common resistance, though but for -a single day, than the absolute power of the Government was conquered. -The Assembly of Vizille was the outward and visible sign of this new -union and of what it might bring to pass. And although this occurrence -took place in the depths of a small province and in a corner of the -Alps, it thus became the principal event of the time. It exhibited -to every eye that which had been as yet visible but to few, and in a -moment it decided the victory. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[98] The Edicts of the 17th June, 1787, were: - - 1. For the free transport of grain. - 2. To establish provincial assemblies. - 3. For the commutation of forced labour. - 4. A land subsidy. - 5. A Stamp Act. - -The Parliament accepted the three first, and resisted the two -last. When the importance of the Edict on Provincial Assemblies is -considered, which created new local powers, and comprised an immense -revolution in government and society, one cannot but be amazed at the -concurrence which existed, on this occasion, between the two most -ancient powers of the monarchy, the one to present, the other to -accept it. Nothing can show more forcibly to what a degree, amongst -this people, who were all perpetually engaged, even to the women, in -debating on government, the true science of human affairs was unknown, -and how the Government, which had plunged the nation in this ignorance, -had ended by sinking into the same darkness. This Edict completed the -destruction of the whole ancient political system of Europe, overthrew -at once whatever remained of feudal monarchy, substituted democracy for -aristocracy, the commonwealth for the Crown. I do not pronounce on the -value of this change. I merely affirm that it amounted to an immediate -and radical overthrow of all the old institutions of the realm, and -that if the Parliament and the King plunged together thus resolutely -on this course, it was because neither of them saw whither they were -going. Hand in hand they leapt into the dark. - -[99] 16th July, 1787. The nation assembled in the States-General has -alone the right to grant subsidies to the King. - -[100] Remonstrance of the Parliament of Paris, 24th July, 1787. Notes -taken from the official documents. - -[101] Parliament of Grenoble, 5th January, 1678. ‘Despotic measures,’ -said the Parliament of Besançon (1787), ‘are not more binding on -a nation than a military constitution, and cannot run against the -inalienable rights of the nation.’ - -[102] Remonstrance of the Parliament of Grenoble, 20th December, 1787. - -[103] Remonstrance of the Parliament of Paris, 24th July, 1787. - -[104] In the speech of M. de Simonville, of the 16th July, 1787, -delivered in the Parliament of Paris, he went back to 1301 to prove the -utility, necessity, and safety of the States-General. He spoke at the -same time of the Constitution, of patriotism, rights of the nation, -ministers of the altars, &c. (Official Documents.) - -[105] Histoire du Gouvernement Français du 22 Février, 1787, au 31 -Décembre. - -[106] Parlement de Normandie, 1787. - -[107] Parlement de Toulouse, 27 Août, 1787. - -[108] Parlement de Besançon, 1787. - -[109] A pamphlet entitled, ‘Réclamation du Tiers-État au Roi.’ - -[110] ‘Mémoire Apologétique,’ 1787. - -[111] The word in the original is _évocation_. I have adopted the -English law term which most nearly approaches it.--_Trans._ - -[112] Remonstrances of the 4th January, 1788, and 4th May, 1788. -A pamphlet of the time, written in defence of the King, is a mere -diatribe against aristocracy. It was attributed to Lecesne des Maisons. - -[113] The object of the Edicts, which were sent down to the Parliament -on the 8th May, 1788, is well known. The first and second of these -established a new order of judicature. Exceptional courts of justice -were abolished. Small courts were scattered over the country, which -have since become the French Courts of First Instance. Higher courts -were established to hear appeals, to sit on criminal cases, and on -civil cases under 20,000 livres in value: these were the germ of the -appeal courts of France; lastly, the Parliaments were to hear causes -in appeal of more than 20,000 livres value--but this was a needless -provision, and it has disappeared. Such was the reform comprised in the -two first edicts. The third contained reforms of equal importance, in -criminal and penal law. No capital executions were henceforth to take -place, without such a respite as would afford time for the exercise of -the prerogative of mercy: no coercive interrogatory was to be used: -the felon’s bench was abolished: no criminal sentence to be given -without reasons: compensation was to be awarded to those who should be -unjustly indicted. The fourth and fifth edicts related exclusively to -the Parliaments, and were designed to modify or rather to destroy them. -(See the ‘History of the Revolution,’ by Buchez and Roux.) - -[114] These citations are from official documents. - -[115] ‘Will posterity believe,’ said a pamphlet of the time, ‘that the -seditious views of the Parliaments are shared by princes of the blood, -by dukes, counts, marquises, and by spiritual as well as temporal -peers?’ (‘Lettres flamandes à un Ami.’) - -[116] Letter of Charles R---- to the Commons of Brittany, 1788. - -[117] Decree of September 25th, 1788. (Official documents). On the -occasion of the partial riot caused at Grenoble by the triumphant -return of the Parliament (October 12th, 1788), the army, instead of -repressing it, was incited by its own officers to take part in the -movement. ‘The officers of the regiment’ (said an eye-witness) ‘did -not show less ardour; they waited in a body on the First President to -express the joy they felt on his return. On this occasion we cannot -refuse ourselves the pleasure of paying them a tribute of praise. Their -prudence, their humanity, their patriotism have earned for them the -esteem of the city.’ I think Bernadotte was serving in this regiment. - -[118] September 14th, 1788. The Archbishop, as chairman, alone signed -the letter written in the name of the three Orders which appears by its -style to have been drafted by Mounier, November 8th, 1788. - -[119] Published between May 8th, 1788, and the Restoration of the -Parliaments. - -[120] A single instance will suffice to show how the hatred of -despotism, and public or corporate interests, caused the very -principles of this Revolution to be repudiated by those who were to -be its champions. After the Edicts of May, 1788, the whole bar of the -Parliament of Aix signed a protest, in which the following sentences -occur: ‘Is uniformity in legislation so absolute a benefit? In a -vast monarchy, composed of several distinct populations, may not the -difference of manners and customs bring about some difference in the -laws? The customs and franchises of each province are the patrimony -of all the subjects of the Crown. It is proposed to degrade and -destroy the seignorial jurisdictions, which are the sacred heritage of -the nobility. What confusion! What disorder!’ This document was the -production of the great lawyer Portalis (afterwards one of the chief -authors of the Code Civil): it was signed by him, by Simeon, and by -eighty members of the Bar. - -[121] Yet in a paper, published a short time before the convocation of -the States-General, the following lines occur: ‘In some provinces the -inhabitants of the country are persuaded that they are to pay no more -taxes, and that they will share among themselves the property of the -landowners. They already hold meetings to ascertain what these estates -are, and to adjust the distribution of them. The States-General are -expected only to give a shape to these aggressions.’ (‘Tableau Moral du -Clergé en France sur la fin du 18ème Siècle, 1789.’) - -[122] 24th August, 1788. All the pamphlets of the time laid down a -theory of insurrection. ‘It is the business of the people to break the -fetters laid upon it. Every citizen is a soldier, &c.’ See ‘Remarks -on the Cabinet Order for suppressing discussions in opposition to the -Edicts of the 8th of May.’ (‘Bibliothèque,’ No. 595.) - -[123] Some of the authors of these papers favourable to Government were -said to be Beaumarchais, the Abbé Maury, Linguet, the Abbé Mosellet, -&c. The Abbé Maury alone was said to be receiving a pension of 22,000 -francs. (‘Lettres d’un Français rétiré à Londres,’ July 1788.) - -[124] In the meetings which followed that of Vizille, and which took -place either at Grenoble or at St. Rambert or at Romans, the same union -was maintained and drawn closer. The nobility and the clergy steadily -demanded that the representatives of the commons should be doubled, -taxation made equal, and the votes taken individually. The commons -continued to express their gratitude. ‘I am instructed by my Order,’ -said the Speaker of the Commons at one of these meetings (held at -Romans, September 15th, 1788), ‘to repeat our thanks; we shall never -forget your anxiety to do us justice.’ Similar compliments were renewed -at an Assembly, also held at Romans on November 2nd, 1788. In a letter -addressed to the Municipalities of Brittany, an inhabitant of Dauphiny -writes: ‘I have seen the clergy and the nobility renounce with a -fairness worthy of all respect their old pretensions in the States, and -unanimously acknowledge the rights of the Commons. I could no longer -doubt the salvation of the country.’ (‘Letters of Charles R---- to the -Municipality of Brittany.’) - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - - THE PARLIAMENTS DISCOVER THAT THEY HAVE LOST ALL AUTHORITY, JUST WHEN - THEY THOUGHT THEMSELVES MASTERS OF THE KINGDOM. - - -When the Royal authority had been conquered, the Parliaments at first -conceived that the triumph was their own. They returned to the bench, -less as reprieved delinquents than as conquerors, and thought that they -had only to enjoy the sweets of victory. - -The King, when he withdrew the edicts which had raised to the bench -new judges, ordered that at least the judgments and decrees of those -judges should be maintained. The Parliaments declared that whatever had -been adjudged without themselves was not adjudged at all. They summoned -before them the insolent magistrates who had presumed to aspire to -their seats, and, borrowing an old expression of mediæval law to meet -this novel incident, they _noted them infamous_. All France saw that -the King’s friends were punished for their fidelity to the Crown, -and learnt that henceforth safety was not to be found on the side of -obedience. - -The intoxication of these magistrates may easily be understood. Louis -XIV. in all his glory had never been the object of more universal -adulation, if that word can be applied to immoderate praise prompted by -genuine and disinterested passions. - -The Parliament of Paris, exiled to Troyes, was received in that -city by all the public bodies, which hastened to pay it the homage -due to the sovereign, and to utter to its face the most extravagant -compliments. ‘August senators!’ they said, ‘generous citizens! strict -and compassionate magistrates! you all deserve in every French heart -the title of fathers of your country. You are the consolation of -the nation’s ills. Your actions are sublime examples of energy and -patriotism. The French nation looks upon you with tenderness and -veneration.’ The Chapter of the Cathedral of Troyes, complimenting them -in the name of the Church, said: ‘Our country and our religion solicit -some durable monument of what you have done.’ Even the University -came forth, in gowns and square caps, to drawl out its homage in bad -Latin, ‘Illustrissimi Senatûs princeps, præsides insulati, Senatores -integerrimi! We share the general emotion, and we are here to express -our lively admiration of your patriotic heroism. Hitherto the highest -courage was that military valour which calls legions of heroes from -their homes; we now see the heroes of peace in the sanctuary of -justice; like those generous citizens who were the pride of Rome in -their day of triumph, you have earned a triumph which secures to you -immortal fame.’ The First President replied to all these addresses -curtly, like a sovereign, and assured the speakers of the good will of -his Court. - -In several provinces the arrest or exile of the judges had provoked -riots. In all, their return gave rise to almost insane explosions -of popular rejoicing. At Grenoble, when the courier arrived, who -brought the news of the restoration of the Parliaments, he was carried -in triumph through the town, and overpowered with caresses and -acclamations; women, unable to reach his person, kissed his horse. -In the evening the whole town was spontaneously illuminated. All the -public bodies and guilds defiled before the Parliament, declaiming -bombastic compliments. - -At Bordeaux on the same day there was a similar ovation. The people -took the horses from the carriage of the First President, and drew -him to his chambers. The judges who had obeyed the King’s orders were -hooted. The First President reprimanded them in public. In the midst of -this scene the oldest member of the Parliament exclaimed, ‘My children, -tell this to your descendants, that the remembrance of this day may -keep alive the fire of patriotism.’ He who said this was an aged man, -born ninety years before, whose youth had been spent under the reign -of Louis XIV. What changes may not take place in the opinions and -the language of a people within the lifetime of a man! They ended by -burning a cardinal in effigy on the market-place; which did not prevent -the clergy from singing a _Te Deum_. These events took place at the end -of October, 1788. - -Suddenly the acclamations which surrounded the Parliaments ceased; -the enthusiasm dropped; silence and solitude gathered about them. Not -only were they the objects of public indifference, but all sorts of -charges were brought against them, the same which the Government had -vainly attempted to urge. The country was inundated with vituperative -pamphlets against them. ‘These judges,’ it was said in these pamphlets, -‘know nothing of politics; in reality they have only been aiming at -power. They are at one with the nobles and the priests, and as hostile -as these are to the commons, who constitute almost the entire nation. -They fancied that their attack on despotism would cause all this to -be forgotten; but, in asserting the rights of the nation, they have -allowed them to be questioned: those rights are derived from the Social -Contract; to discuss them, is to clothe them in the false colours of -voluntary concession. Indeed, the demands they made from the King -were in some respects excessive. They are an aristocracy of lawyers -who want to be masters of the King himself.’[125] Another pamphlet, -attributed to Volney, apostrophised them in these terms: ‘August body -of Magistrates! we are under sacred obligations to you which we do not -disown, but we cannot forget that during all these years that you have -represented the people, you have allowed it to be oppressed: you, the -teachers of the people, have allowed almost all the books calculated -to enlighten it to be burnt; and when you resisted despotism it was -because it was about to crush yourselves.’ - -Especially for the Parliament of Paris was the fall sudden and -terrible. How shall I describe the mighty void, the death-like silence -which encompassed that great Court, and its own sense of impotence -and despair, or the scornful vengeance of the Crown, when, in reply -to fresh remonstrances, Louis XVI. said, ‘I have no answer to make to -my Parliament or to its supplications: with the assembled nation I am -about to concert measures to consolidate for ever public order and the -prosperity of the kingdom’? - -The same measure which recalled the Parliament to its hall of justice -restored d’Eprémenil to liberty. The reader will remember the dramatic -scene of his arrest, his address in the style of Regulus, the emotion -of the audience, and the immense popularity of the martyr. He was -confined in the Ile Ste. Marguérite, off Cannes: the warrant for his -discharge arrives, and he starts. On the road he is at first treated -as a great man, but as he proceeds the radiance that surrounded him -fades away: once at Paris, nobody cares about him, unless it be to cut -a joke. To descend thus from the sublime to the ridiculous, he had only -to post across the territory some two hundred leagues. - -The Parliament, wretched at the discovery of its unpopularity, -endeavoured to regain the favour of the public. Recourse was had to -stirring means: the same language which had so often served to excite -the people in its favour was again employed. The cry for periodical -sessions of the States-General, for the responsibility of Ministers, -for personal freedom, for the liberty of the press: all was in vain. -The amazement of the judges was extreme: they were totally unable to -comprehend what was happening before their eyes. They continued to -speak of the _constitution_ to be defended, not seeing that this word -was popular enough when the constitution was opposed to the King, -but hateful to public opinion when it was opposed to equality. They -condemned a publication which attacked the old institutions of the -kingdom to be burnt by the common hangman, not perceiving that the ruin -of these institutions was precisely what was desired. They asked of one -another what could possibly have brought about such a change in the -public mind. They fancied they had a strength of their own, not being -aware that they had only been the blind auxiliaries of another power: -everything, as long as that power made them its instruments; nothing, -as soon as, being able to act on its own behalf, it ceased to need -their assistance. They did not see that the same wave which had driven -them along, and raised them so high, carried them back with it as it -retired. - -Originally the Parliament consisted of jurists and advocates chosen by -the King from the ablest members of their profession. A path to honours -and to the highest offices of State was thus opened by merit to men -born in the humblest conditions of fortune. The Parliament was then, -with the Church, one of those powerful democratic institutions, which -were born and had implanted themselves on the aristocratic soil of the -Middle Ages. - -At a later period the Crown, to make money, put up to sale the right -of administering justice. The Parliament was then filled by a certain -number of wealthy families, who considered the national judicature as -a privilege of their own, to be guarded from the intrusion of others -with increasing jealousy; they obeyed in this the strange impulse -which seemed to impel each particular body to dwindle more and more -into a small close aristocracy, at the very time when the opinions and -general habits of the nation caused society to incline more and more to -democracy. - -Nothing certainly could be more opposed to the ideas of the time than -a judicial caste, exercising by purchase the whole jurisdiction of the -country. No practice, indeed, had been more often and more bitterly -censured, for a century past, than the sale of these offices. This -magistracy, vicious as it was in principle, had nevertheless a merit -which the better constituted tribunals of our own time do not always -possess. The judges were independent. They administered justice in -the name of the sovereign, but not in compliance with his will. They -obeyed no passions but their own. - -When all the intermediate powers which might counter-balance or -attenuate the unlimited power of the King had been struck down, the -Parliament alone still remained firm. The Parliament could still speak -when all the world was silent, and maintain itself erect, for a time, -when all the world had long been forced to bow. The consequence was -that it became popular as soon as the Government was out of favour -with the nation. And when, for a moment, hatred of despotism had -become a fervent passion and a sentiment common to all Frenchmen, the -Parliaments appeared to be the sole remaining barrier against absolute -power. The defects which had been most blamed in them acted as a -sort of guarantee of their political honesty. Even their vices were -a protection, and their love of power, their presumption, and their -prejudices were arms which the nation used. But no sooner had absolute -power been definitely conquered, and the nation felt assured that it -could defend its own rights, than the Parliament again at once became -what it was before--an old, decrepit, and discredited institution; a -legacy of the Middle Ages, again exposed to the full tide of public -aversion. To effect its destruction, the King had only to endure its -triumph. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[125] See a pamphlet attributed to Serovan (1789), and entitled -‘Glose sur l’arrêté du Parlement’; and one entitled ‘Despotisme des -Parlements,’ published on the 25th September, 1788, after the decree -which suddenly made the Parliaments unpopular. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - - ABSOLUTE POWER BEING SUBDUED, THE TRUE SPIRIT OF THE REVOLUTION - FORTHWITH BECAME MANIFEST. - - -The bond of a common passion had for an instant linked all classes -together. No sooner was that bond relaxed than they flew asunder, and -the veritable spirit of the Revolution, disguised before, was suddenly -unveiled. After the triumph which had been obtained over the King, the -next thing was to ascertain who should win the fruits of the victory; -the States-General having been conceded, who should predominate in that -assembly. The King could no longer refuse to convoke them; but he had -still the power to determine the form they were to assume. One hundred -and seventy-five years had elapsed since their last meeting. They had -become a mere indistinct tradition. None knew precisely what should be -the number of the deputies, the mutual relations of the three Orders, -the mode of election, the forms of deliberation. The King alone could -have settled these questions: he did not settle them. After having -allowed the disputed powers, which he sought to retain, to be snatched -away from him, he failed to use those which were not disputed. - -M. de Brienne, the First Minister, had strange notions on this -subject, and caused his master to adopt a resolution unparalleled in -history. He regarded the questions, whether the electoral franchise -was to be universal or limited, whether the assembly was to be -numerous or restricted, whether the Orders were to be separated or -united, whether they were to be equal or unequal in their rights, as -a matter of erudition. Consequently an Order in Council commanded -all the constituted bodies of the realm to make researches as to the -structure of the old States-General and the forms used by them; and -added that ‘His Majesty invited all the learned persons of the kingdom, -more especially those who belonged to the Academy of Belles-lettres -and Antiquities, to address to the Keeper of the Seals papers and -information on this subject.’ - -Thus was the constitution of the country treated like an academical -essay, put up to competition. The call was heard. All the local powers -deliberated on the answer to be given to the King. All the corporate -bodies put in their claims. All classes endeavoured to rake up from the -ruins of the old States-General the forms which seemed best adapted -to secure their own peculiar interests. Every one had something to -say; and as France was the most literary country in Europe, there was -a deluge of publications. The conflict of classes was inevitable; -but that conflict, which should naturally have been reserved for the -States-General themselves, where it might have been kept within bounds -when it arose on given questions, finding a boundless field before it, -and being fed by general controversy, speedily assumed a degree of -strange boldness and excessive violence, to be accounted for by the -secret excitement of the public mind, but which no external symptom had -as yet prepared men for. Between the time when the King renounced his -absolute authority and the commencement of the elections about five -months elapsed. In this interval little was changed in the actual state -of things, but the movement which was driving the French nation to a -total subversion of society dashed onwards with increasing velocity. - -At first nothing was talked of but the constitution of the -States-General; big books were hastily filled with crude erudition, in -which an attempt was made to reconcile the traditions of the Middle -Ages with the demands of the present time: then the question of the -old States-General was dropped. This heap of mouldy precedents was -flung aside, and it was asked what, on general and abstract principles, -the legislative power ought to be. At each step the horizon extended: -beyond the constitution of the legislature the discussion embraced the -whole framework of government: beyond the frame of government the whole -fabric of society was to be shaken to its foundations. At first men -spoke of a better ponderation of powers, a better adjustment of the -rights of classes, but soon they advanced, they hurried, they rushed -to pure democracy. At first Montesquieu was cited and discussed, at -last Rousseau was the only authority; he, and he alone, became and -was to remain the Teacher of the first age of the Revolution. The old -_régime_ was still in complete existence, and already the institutions -of England were deemed superannuated and inadequate. The root of -every incident that followed was implanted in men’s minds. Scarcely -an opinion was professed in the whole course of the Revolution which -might not already be traced in its germ: there was not an idea realised -by the Revolution, that some theory had not at once reached and even -surpassed. - -‘In all things the majority of numbers is to give the law’: such -was the keynote of the whole controversy. Nobody dreamed that the -concession of political rights could be determined by any other element -than that of number. ‘What can be more absurd,’ exclaims a writer who -was one of the most moderate of the time, ‘than that a body which has -twenty millions of heads should be represented in the same manner as -one which has an hundred thousand?’[126] After having shown that there -were in France eighty thousand ecclesiastics and about a hundred and -twenty thousand nobles, Siéyès merely adds, ‘Compare this number of -these two hundred thousand privileged persons to that of twenty-six -million souls, and judge the question.’[127] - -The most timid among the innovators of the Revolution, those who -wished that the reasonable prerogatives of the different Orders -should be respected, talked, nevertheless, as if there were neither -class nor Order, and still took the numerical majority[128] as -the sole basis of their calculations. Everybody framed his own -statistics, but all was statistical. ‘The relation of privileged -persons to those not privileged,’ said Lafon-Ladebat, ‘is as one to -twenty-two.’[129] According to the city of Bourg,[130] the commons -formed nineteen-twentieths of the population; according to the city -of Nîmes,[131] twenty-nine thirtieths. It was, as you see, a mere -question of figures. From this political arithmetic, Volney deduced, -as a natural consequence, universal suffrage;[132] Roederer, universal -eligibility;[133] Péthion, the unity of the assembly.[134] - -Many of these writers, in drawing out their figures, knew nothing of -the quotient: and the calculation frequently led them beyond their -hopes, and even beyond their wishes. - -The most striking thing, at this passionate epoch, was not so much -the passions which broke forth, as the power of the opinions that -prevailed; and the opinion that prevailed above all others was, -that not only there were no privileges, but even that there were no -private rights. Even those who professed the largest consideration for -privileges and private rights considered such privileges and rights as -wholly indefensible--not only those exercised in their own time, but -those existing at any time and in any country. The conception of a -temperate and ponderated Government, that is to say, of a Government -in which the different classes of society, and the different interests -which divide them, balance each other--in which men are weighed not -only as individuals, but by reason of their property, their patronage, -and their influence in the scale of the common weal,--these conceptions -were wanting in the mind of the multitude; they were replaced by the -notion of a crowd, consisting of similar elements, and they were -superseded by votes, not as the representatives of interests or of -persons, but of numerical force.[135] - -Another thing well worthy of remark in this singular movement of the -mind, was its _pace_, at first so easy and regulated, at last so -headlong and impetuous. A few months’ interval marked this difference. -Read what was written in the first weeks of 1788 by the keenest -opponents of the old _régime_, you will be struck by the forbearance -of their language: then take the publications of the most moderate -reformers in the last five months of the same year, you will find them -revolutionary. - -The Government had challenged discussion on itself: no bounds therefore -would be set to the theme. The same impulse which had been given to -opinions soon drove the passions of the nation with furious rapidity in -the same direction. At first the commons complained that the nobility -carried their rights too far. Later on, the existence of any such -rights was denied. At first it was proposed to share power with the -upper classes: soon all power was refused to them. The aristocracy was -to become a sort of extraneous substance in the uniform texture of the -nation. Some said the privileged classes were a hundred thousand, some -that they were five hundred thousand. All agreed in thinking that they -formed a mere handful, foreign to the rest of the nation, only to be -tolerated in the interest of public tranquillity. ‘Take away in your -imagination,’ said Rabaut Saint-Etienne, ‘the whole of the clergy--take -away even the whole nobility, there still remains the nation.’ The -commons were a complete social body: all the rest was vain superfluity: -not only the nobles had no right to be masters of the rest, they had -scarcely the right to be their fellow-citizens. - -For the first time perhaps in the history of the world, the upper -classes had separated and isolated themselves to such a degree from all -other classes, that their members could be counted one by one and set -apart like sheep draughted from a flock: whilst the middle classes were -bent on _not_ mixing with the class above them, but, on the contrary, -stood carefully aloof from all contact. These two symptoms, had they -been understood, would have revealed the immensity of the Revolution -which was about to take place, or rather which was already made. - -Now follow the movement of passion in the track of opinion. At first -hatred was expressed against privileges, none against persons. But -by degrees the tone becomes more bitter, emulation becomes jealousy, -enmity becomes detestation, a thousand conflicting associations are -piled together to form the mighty mass which a thousand arms are at -once to lift, and drop upon the head of the aristocracy so as to crush -it. - -The privileged ranks were attacked in countless publications. They were -defended in so few, that it is somewhat difficult to ascertain what -was said in their favour. It may seem surprising that the assailed -classes, holding most of the great offices of State and owning a large -portion of the land of the country, should have found so few defenders, -though so many eloquent voices have pleaded their cause since they -have been conquered, decimated, ruined. But this is explained by the -extreme confusion into which the aristocracy was thrown, when the rest -of the nation, having proceeded for a time in the track marked out by -itself, suddenly turned against it. With astonishment, it perceived -that the opinions used to attack it were its own opinions. The notions -which compassed its annihilation were familiar to its own mind. What -had been the amusement of aristocratic leisure became a terrible -weapon against aristocratic society. In common with their adversaries, -these nobles were ready enough to believe that the most perfect form -of society would be that most nearly akin to the natural equality of -man; in which merit alone, and not either birth or fortune, should -determine rank; and in which government would be a simple contract, -and law the creation of a numerical majority. They knew nothing of -politics but what they had read in books, and in the same books; the -only difference was that one party was bent on trying a great social -experiment, which must be made at the expense of the other party. But, -though their interests were different, their opinions were the same: -those same patricians would have made the Revolution if they had been -born plebeians. - -When therefore they suddenly found themselves attacked, they were -singularly embarrassed in their defence. Not one of them had ever -considered by what means an aristocracy may justify its privileges in -the eyes of the people. They knew not what to say in order to show how -it is that an aristocracy can alone preserve the people from oppression -of the Crown and the calamities of revolution, insomuch that the -privileges apparently established in the sole interest of those who -possess them do constitute the best security that can be found for -the tranquillity and prosperity even of those who are without them. -All these arguments which are so familiar to those who have a long -experience of public affairs, and who have acquired the science of -government, were to those nobles of France novel and unknown. - -Instead of this, they spoke of the services which their forefathers -had rendered six hundred years ago; of the superstitious veneration -due to a past, which was now detested; of the necessity of a nobility -to uphold the honour of arms and the traditions of military valour. In -opposition to a proposal to admit the peasantry to the franchise in the -provincial assemblies, and even to preside over those bodies, M. de -Bazancourt, a Councillor of State, declared that the kingdom of France -was based upon honour and prerogative: so great was the ignorance -and so deep the obscurity in which absolute power had concealed the -real laws of society, even from the eyes of those to whom it was most -interested in making them known. - -The language of the nobles was often arrogant, because they were -accustomed to be the first; but it was irresolute, because they doubted -of their own right. Who can depict the endless divisions in the bosom -of the assailed parties? The spirit of rivalry and contention raged -amongst those who were thus isolated themselves--the nobles against -the priests (the first voice raised to demand the confiscation of the -property of the clergy was that of a noble[136]), the priests against -the nobles, the lesser nobility against the great lords, the parish -priests against the bishops.[137] - -The discussion roused by the King’s Edicts, after having run round -a vast circumference of institutions and laws, always ended at the -two following points, which practically expressed the objects of the -contest. - -1. In the States-General, then about to meet, were the commons to have -a greater number of representatives than each of the two other Orders, -so that the total number of its deputies should be equal to those of -the nobility and clergy combined? - -2. Were the Orders to deliberate together or separately? - -This reduplication of the commons and the fusion of the three Orders in -one assembly appeared, at the time, to be things less novel and less -important than they were in reality. Some minor circumstances which had -long existed, or were then in existence, concealed their novelty and -their magnitude. For ages the provincial Estates of Languedoc had been -composed and had sat in this manner, with no other result than that of -giving to the middle class a larger share of public business, and of -creating common interests and greater facility of intercourse between -that class and the two higher Orders. This example had been copied, -subsequently, in the two or three provincial assemblies which were held -in 1779: instead of dividing the classes, it had been found to draw -them together. - -The King himself appeared to have declared in favour of this system; -for he had just applied it to the provincial assemblies, which the last -edict had called into being in all the provinces having previously no -Estates of their own (1788). It was still imperfectly seen, without -a clear perception of the fact, that an institution which had only -modified the ancient constitution of the country, when established in -a single province, could not fail to bring about its total and violent -overthrow the moment it was applied to the whole State. It was evident -that the commons, if equal in number to the two other Orders in the -General Assembly of the nation, must instantly preponderate there;--not -as participating in their business, but as the supreme master of it. -For the commons would stand united between two bodies, not only divided -against each other, but divided against themselves--the commons having -the same interests, the same passions, the same object: the two other -Orders having different interests, different objects, and frequently -different passions: these having the current of public opinion in their -favour, those having it against them. This preference from without -could not fail to drive a certain number of nobles and priests to join -the commons; so that whilst it banded all the commons together, it -detached from the nobility and the clergy all those who were aiming at -popularity or seeking to track out a new road to power. - -In the States of Languedoc it was common to see the commons forsake -their own body to vote with the nobles and the bishops, because the -established influence of aristocracy, still prevailing in their -opinions and manners, weighed upon them. But here, the reverse -necessarily occurred; and the commons necessarily found themselves in a -majority, although the number of their own representatives was the same. - -The action of such a party in the Assembly could not fail to be, not -only preponderating, but violent; for it was sure to encounter there -all that could excite the passions of man. To bring parties to live -together in a conflict of opposite opinions is no easy task. But to -enclose in the same arena political bodies, already formed, completely -organised, each having its proper origin, its past, its traditions, -its peculiar usages, its spirit of union--to plant them apart, always -in presence of each other, and to compel them to carry on an incessant -debate, with no medium between them, is not to provoke discussion but -war. - -Moreover, this majority, inflamed by its own passions and the passions -of its antagonists, was all powerful. Nothing could, I will not say -arrest, but retard its movements; for nothing remained to check it but -the power of the Crown, already disarmed, and inevitably destined to -yield to the strain of a single Assembly concentrated against itself. - -This was not to transpose gradually the balance of power, but to upset -it. It was not to impart to the commons a share in the exorbitant -rights of the aristocracy, but suddenly to transfer unbounded power to -other hands--to abandon the guidance of affairs to a single passion, -a single idea, a single interest. This was not a reform, but a -revolution. Mounier, who, alone among the reformers of that time, seems -to have settled in his own mind what it was he wished to effect, and -what were the conditions of a regular and free government,--Mounier, -who in his plan of government had divided the three Orders, was -nevertheless favourable to this union of them, and for this reason: -that what was wanted before all things was an assembly to destroy the -remains of the old constitution, all special privileges, and all local -privileges, which could never be done with an Upper House composed of -the nobles and the clergy. - -It would seem at any rate that the reduplication of the votes of the -commons and the fusion of the three Orders in one body must have been -questions inseparable from each other; for to what end should the -number of representatives of the commons be augmented, if that branch -of the Assembly was to debate and vote apart from the other two? - -M. Necker thought proper to separate these questions. No doubt he -desired both the reduplication of the commons, and that the three -Orders should vote together. It is very probable that the King leaned -in the same direction. By the aristocracy he had just been conquered. -It was the aristocracy which pressed him hardest, which had roused the -other classes against the royal authority, and had led them to victory. -These blows had been felt, and the King had not sufficient penetration -to perceive that his adversaries would soon be compelled to defend him, -and that his friends would become his masters. Louis XVI. therefore, -like his minister, was inclined to constitute the States-General in the -manner which the commons desired. But they were afraid to go so far. -They stopped half-way, not from any clear perception of their danger, -but confused by the inarticulate clamour around them. What man or what -class has ever had the penetration to see when it became necessary to -come down from a lofty pinnacle, in order to avoid being hurled down -from it? - -It was then decided that the commons should return twice as many -members as each of the other Orders, but the question of the vote in -common was left unsettled. Of all courses of action, this was certainly -the most dangerous. - -Nothing contributes more to the maintenance of despotism than the -division and mutual rivalry of classes. Absolute power lives on them: -on condition, however, that these divisions are confined to a pacific -bitterness, that men envy their neighbours without excessive hatred, -and that these classes, though separated, are not in arms. But every -Government must perish in the midst of a violent collision of classes, -when once they have begun to make war on each other. - -No doubt, it was very late in the day to seek to maintain the old -constitution of the States-General, even if it were reformed. But this -resolution, however rash, was supported by the law of the land, which -had still some authority. The Government had tradition in its favour, -and still had its hand upon the instrument of the law. If the double -number of the commons and the vote of the three Orders in common had -been conceded at once, no doubt a revolution would have been made, -but it would have been made by the Crown, which by pulling down these -old institutions itself might have deadened their fall. The upper -classes must have submitted to an inevitable necessity. Borne in by the -pressure of the Crown, simultaneously with that of the commons, they -would at once have acknowledged their inability to resist. Despairing -of their own ascendency, they would only have contended for equal -rights, and would have learnt the lesson of fighting to save something, -instead of fighting to retain everything. - -Would it not have been possible to do throughout France what was -actually done by the Three Orders in Dauphiny? In that province the -Provincial Estates chose, by a general vote, the representatives of -the Three Orders to the States-General. Each Order in the provincial -State had been elected separately and stood for itself alone; but all -the Orders combined to name the deputies to the States-General, so that -every noble had commoners among his constituents, and every commoner -nobles. The three representations, though remaining distinct, thus -acquired a certain resemblance. Could not the same thing have been done -elsewhere than in Dauphiny? If the Orders had been constituted in this -manner, might they not have co-existed in a single Assembly without -coming to a violent collision? - -Too much weight must not be given to these legislative expedients. -The ideas and the passions of man, not the mechanism of law, are the -motive force of human affairs. Doubtless whatever steps had at that -time been taken to form and regulate the Assemblies of the nation, it -may be thought that war would have broken forth in all its violence -between classes. Their animosities were perhaps already too fierce for -them to have worked in harmony, and the power of the King was already -too weak to compel them to agree. But it must be admitted that nothing -could have been done more calculated than what was done to render the -conflict between them instantaneous and mortal. Could the utmost art, -skill, and deliberate design have brought all this to pass more surely -than was actually done by inexperience and temerity? An opportunity -had been afforded to the commons to take courage, to prepare for -the encounter, and to count their numbers. Their moral ardour had -immoderately increased, and had doubled the weight of their party. They -had been allured by every hope; they were intimidated by every fear. -Victory had been flaunted before their eyes, not given, but they were -invited to seize it. After having left the two classes for five months -to exasperate their old hatreds, and repeat the long story of their -grievances, until they were inflamed against each other with furious -resentment, they were arrayed face to face, and the first question they -had to decide was one which included all other questions; on that issue -alone they might have settled at once, and in a single day, all their -quarrels. - -What strikes one most in the affairs of the world is not so much the -genius of those who made the Revolution, because they desired it, as -the singular imbecility of those who made it without desiring it,--not -so much the part played by great men as the influence frequently -exercised by the smallest personages in history. When I survey the -French Revolution I am amazed at the immense magnitude of the event, -at the glare it has cast to the extremities of the earth, at the power -of it, which has more or less been felt by all nations. If I turn to -the Court, which had so great a share in the Revolution, I perceive -there some of the most trivial scenes in history--a king, who had no -greatness save that of his virtues, and those not the virtues of a -king; hairbrained or narrow-minded ministers, dissolute priests, rash -or money-seeking courtiers, futile women, who held in their hands the -destinies of the human race. Yet these paltry personages set going, -push on, precipitate prodigious events. They themselves have little -share in them. They themselves are mere accidents. They might almost -pass for primal causes. And I marvel at the Almighty Power which, with -levers as short as these, can set rolling the mass of human society. - -FOOTNOTES: - -[126] ‘Le Tiers-État au Roi,’ by M. Louchet, December 20th, 1788. - -[127] ‘Qu’est-ce-que le Tiers?’ p. 53. - -[128] Lacretelle, ‘Convocation des États-Généraux’; Bertrand de -Molleville,’ Observations adressées à l’Assemblée des Notables.’ - -[129] ‘Observations lues aux représentants du Tiers-État à Bordeaux,’ -December, 1788. - -[130] ‘Requête du Tiers-État de la ville de Bourg,’ December, 1788. - -[131] ‘Délibérations de la ville de Nîmes en Conseil général.’ - -[132] ‘Des conditions nécessaires à la légalité des États-Généraux.’ - -[133] ‘De la députation aux États-Généraux.’ - -[134] ‘Avis aux Français,’ 1788. A pamphlet written in 1788, but full -of the true revolutionary spirit of 1792. - -[135] Mounier himself was just as little able as the most violent -revolutionists, who were soon to appear, to conceive the idea of rights -derived from the past; of political usages and customs which are in -reality laws, though unwritten, and only to be touched with caution, of -interests to be respected and very gradually modified without causing -a rupture between that which has been and that which is to be--the -idea, in short, which is the first principle of practical and regular -political liberty. See Mounier’s ‘Nouvelles Observations sur les -États-Généraux.’ - -[136] The Marquis de Gouy d’Arcy in a ‘Mémoire au Roi en faveur de la -noblesse Française, par un patricien ami du peuple,’ 1788. - -[137] This appears from a correspondence of M---- with M. Necker, -examined by me in the archives. - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - - THE PREPARATION OF THE INSTRUCTIONS TO THE MEMBERS OF THE - STATES-GENERAL DROVE THE CONCEPTION OF A RADICAL REVOLUTION HOME TO - THE MIND OF THE PEOPLE. - - -Almost all the institutions of the Middle Ages had a stamp of boldness -and truth. Those laws were imperfect, but they were sincere. They had -little art, but they had less cunning. They always gave all the rights -they seemed to promise. When the commons were convoked to form part -of the assemblies of the nation, they were at the same time invested -with unbounded freedom in making known their complaints and in sending -up their requests. In the cities which were to send deputies to the -States-General, the whole people was called upon to say what it thought -of the abuses to be corrected and the demands to be made. None were -excluded from the right of complaint, and any man might express his -grievance in his own way. The means were as simple as the political -device was bold. Down to the States-General of 1614, in all the towns, -and even in Paris, a large box was placed in the market-place, with -a slit in it, to receive the papers and opinions of all men, which -a committee sitting at the Hôtel de Ville was empowered to sift and -examine. Out of all these diverse remonstrances a bill was drawn -up, which expressed the public grievances and the complaint of each -individual. - -The physical and social constitution of that time was based on such -deep and solid foundations, that this sort of public inquest could -take place without shaking it. There was no question of changing the -principle of the laws, but simply of putting them straight. Moreover, -what were then styled the commons were the burgesses of certain towns. -The people of the towns might enjoy an entire liberty in the expression -of their wrongs, because they were not in a condition to enforce -redress: they exercised without inconvenience that amount of democratic -freedom, because in all other respects the aristocracy reigned supreme. -The communities of the Middle Ages were aristocratic bodies, which -merely contained (and this contributed to their greatness) some small -fragments of democracy. - -In 1789, the commons who were to be represented in the States-General -no longer consisted of the burgesses of the towns alone, as was the -case in 1614, but of twenty millions of peasants scattered over the -whole area of the kingdom. These had till then never taken any part -in public affairs. Political life was not to them even the casual -reminiscence of another age: it was, in all respects, a novelty. -Nevertheless, on a given day, the inhabitants of each of the rural -parishes of France, collected by the sound of the church bells on the -market-place in front of the church, proceeded, for the first time -since the commencement of the monarchy, to confer together in order to -draw up what was called the _cahier_ of their representatives.[138] - -In all the countries in which political assemblies are chosen by -universal suffrage, no general election takes place which does not -deeply agitate the people, unless the freedom of voting be a lie. Here -it was not only a universal voting; it was a universal deliberation -and inquest. The matter in discussion was not some particular custom -or local interest; each member of one of the greatest nations in the -world was asked what he had to say against all the laws and all the -customs of his country. I think no such spectacle had been seen before -upon the earth. All the peasants of France set to work therefore, at -the same time, to consider among themselves and recapitulate all that -they had suffered, all they had to complain of. The spirit of the -Revolution which excited the citizens of the towns, rushed therefore -through a thousand rills, penetrated the rural population, which was -thus agitated in all its parts, and sunk to its very depths; but the -form it assumed was not entirely the same; its shape became peculiar -and appropriate to those just affected by it. In the cities, it was a -cry for rights to be acquired. In the country, men thought principally -of wants to be satisfied. All the large, general, and abstract theories -which filled the minds of the middle classes here took a concrete and -definite form. - -When the peasants came to ask each other what they had to complain of, -they cared not for the balance of powers, the guarantees of political -freedom, the abstract rights of man or of citizens. They dwelt at once -on objects more special and nearer to themselves, which each of them -had had to endure. One thought of the feudal dues which had taken -half his last year’s crop; another of the days of forced labour on -which he had been compelled to work without wages. One spoke of the -lord’s pigeons, which had picked his seed from the ground before it -sprouted; another of the rabbits which had nibbled his green corn. As -their excitement grew by the mutual relation of their wretchedness, -all these different evils seemed to them to proceed, not so much -from institutions, as from that single person, who still called them -his subjects, though he had long ceased to govern them--who was the -creature of privileges without obligations, and retained none of his -political rights but that of living at their cost; and they more and -more agreed in considering _him_ as their common enemy. - -Providence, which had resolved that the spectacle of our passions -and our calamities should be the lesson of the world, permitted the -commencement of the Revolution to coincide with a great scarcity and -an extraordinary winter. The harvest of 1788 was short, and the first -months of the winter of 1789 were marked by cold of unparalleled -severity--a frost, like that which is felt in the northern extremity of -Europe, hardened the earth to a great depth. For two months the whole -of France lay hidden under a thick fall of snow, like the steppes of -Siberia. The atmosphere was congealed, the sky dull and sad; and this -accident of nature gave a gloomier and fiercer tone to the passions of -man. All the grievances which might be urged against the institutions -of the country, and those who ruled by those institutions, were felt -more bitterly amidst the cold and want that prevailed; and when the -peasant left his scarcely burning hearth and his chill and naked abode, -with a famished and frozen family, to meet his fellows and discuss -their common condition of life, it cost him no effort to discover the -cause of all his calamities, and he fancied that he could easily, if he -dared, put his finger on the source of all his wrongs. - -FOOTNOTE: - -[138] For a fuller account of these Instructions, and a specimen of -them, see Note XLIV. in the Appendix. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - - HOW, ON THE EVE OF THE CONVOCATION OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, THE MIND - OF THE NATION WAS MORE ENLARGED, AND ITS SPIRIT RAISED. - - -Two questions had thus far divided all classes--that of the -reduplication of the commons, and that of the voting of the Orders -in one body: the first was settled, the second was postponed. That -great Assembly which every man had regarded in his own heart as the -fulfilment of his hopes, and which all had demanded with equal fervour, -was about to meet. The event had long been anticipated. To the last -it seemed doubtful. It came at length. Preparation was passing into -reality, speech into action. At that solemn moment all paused to -consider the greatness of the undertaking--near enough to discern the -bearing of what was to be done, and to measure the effort which the -work required. Nobles, clergy, and citizens alike distinctly perceived -that the object was not to modify this or that law, but to remodel all -laws, to breathe a new spirit into them, to impart to all of them new -purposes and a new course. No one knew as yet exactly what would be -destroyed, or what would be created; but all felt that immense ruins -would be made, and immense structures raised. Nor was this the limit of -public confidence. None doubted that the destiny of mankind was engaged -in the work about to be accomplished. - -Nowadays when the calamity of revolutions has rendered us so humble -that we scarcely believe ourselves worthy of the freedom enjoyed by -other nations, it is difficult to form a conception of the proud -anticipations of our sires. The literature of the time shows to our -amazement the vast opinions which the French of all ranks had at -that time conceived of their country and of their race. Amongst the -schemes of reform just brought to light, hardly any were formed on -the model of foreign imitation. They were not received as lessons -from the British constitution, or borrowed from the experience of -American democracy. Nothing was to be copied; nothing was to be done -that was not new. Everything was to be different and more perfect -than had been seen before. The confidence of the French in themselves -and in the superiority of their own reason was unbounded--a great -cause of their mistakes, but also of their inimitable energy. What was -applicable to themselves alone would be equally applicable to all men. -Not a Frenchman but was convinced that not only was the government -of France to be changed, but new principles of government were to be -introduced into the world, applicable to all the nations of the earth, -and destined to regenerate the sum of human affairs. Every man imagined -that he held in his hand not only the fate of his country, but that -of his species. All believed that there existed for mankind, whatever -might be their condition, but one sovereign method of government, -dictated by reason. The same institutions were held to be good for all -countries and for any people. Whatever government was not approved by -the human reason was to be destroyed and superseded by the logical -institutions to be adopted, first by the French, and afterwards by the -human race. - -The magnitude, the beauty, and the risks of such an enterprise -captivated and ravished the imagination of the whole French people. -In presence of this immense design, each individual completely forgot -himself. The illusion lasted but for a moment, but that moment was -perhaps unexampled in the existence of any people. The educated classes -had nothing of the timorous and servile spirit which they have since -learnt from revolutions. For some time past they had ceased to fear the -power of the Crown; they had not yet learned to dread the power of the -people. The grandeur of their design rendered them intrepid. Reforms -already accomplished had caused a certain amount of private suffering; -to this they were resigned. The reforms which were inevitable must -alter the condition of thousands of human beings: that was not thought -of. The uncertainty of the future had already checked the course of -trade and paralysed the exertions of industry: neither privations nor -suffering extinguished their ardour. All these private calamities -disappeared, in the eyes even of those who suffered by them, in the -splendour of the common enterprise. The love of well-being, which -was one day to reign supreme over all other passions, was then but a -subordinate and feeble predilection. Men aimed at loftier pleasures. -Every man was resolved, in his heart, to sacrifice himself for so -great a cause, and to grudge neither his time, nor his property, nor -his life. I hasten to record these virtues of our forefathers, for the -present age, which is already incapable of imitating them, will soon be -incapable of understanding them. - -At that time, the nation, in every rank, sought to be free. To -doubt its ability for self-government would have seemed a strange -impertinence, and no phrase-maker of that day would have dared to tell -the people that, for their own happiness and safety, their hands must -be tied and their authority placed in leading-strings. Ere they can -listen to such language, nations must be reduced to think more humbly -of themselves. - -The passions which had just been so violently excited between the -various classes of society seemed of themselves to cool down at -the moment when for the first time in two centuries these classes -were about to act together. All had demanded with equal fervour the -restoration of the great Assembly then new born. Each of them saw in -that event the means of realising its fondest hopes. The States-General -were to meet at last! A common gladness filled those divided hearts, -and knit them together for an instant before they separated for ever. - -All minds were struck by the peril of disunion. A sovereign effort was -made to agree. Instead of dwelling on the causes of difference, men -applied themselves to consider what all alike desired: the destruction -of arbitrary power, the self-government of the nation, the recognition -of the rights of every citizen, liberty of the press, personal freedom, -the mitigation of the law, a stronger administration of justice, -religious toleration, the abolition of restraint on labour and human -industry--these were all things demanded by all. This, at least, was -remembered: this was a ground of common rejoicing. - -I think no epoch of history has seen, on any spot on the globe, so -large a number of men so passionately devoted to the public good, so -honestly forgetful of themselves, so absorbed in the contemplation of -the common interest, so resolved to risk all they cherished in life to -secure it. This it is which gave to the opening of the year 1789 an -incomparable grandeur. This was the general source of passion, courage, -and patriotism, from which all the great deeds of the Revolution took -their rise. The scene was a short one; but it will never depart from -the memory of mankind. The distance from which we look back to it is -not the only cause of its apparent greatness; it seemed as great to -all those who lived in it. All foreign nations saw it, hailed it, were -moved by it. There is no corner of Europe so secluded that the glow of -admiration and of hope did not reach it. In the vast series of memoirs -left to us by the contemporaries of the Revolution, I have met with -none in which the recollection of the first days of 1789 has not left -imperishable traces; everywhere it kindled the freshness, clearness, -and vivacity of the impressions of youth. - -I venture to add that there is but one people on the earth which could -have played this part. I know my country--I know but too well its -mistakes, its faults, its foibles, and its sins. But I know, too, of -what it is capable. There are undertakings which the French nation can -alone accomplish; there are magnanimous resolutions which this nation -can alone conceive. France alone may, on some given day, take in hand -the common cause and stand up in defence of it; and if she be subject -to awful reverses, she has also moments of sublime enthusiasm which -bear her aloft to heights which no other people will ever reach. - - - - -NOTES AND ILLUSTRATIONS.[139] - - -Note (I.)--Page 12, line 18. - -THE POWER OF THE ROMAN LAW IN GERMANY.--THE MANNER IN WHICH IT HAD -SUPERSEDED THE GERMANIC LAW. - -Towards the end of the Middle Ages the Roman law became the principal -and almost the sole study of the German legists; indeed, at this time, -most of them pursued their education out of Germany in the Italian -universities. These legists, though not the masters of political -society, were charged with the explanation and application of its -laws; and though they could not abolish the Germanic law, they altered -and disfigured it so as to fit into the frame of the Roman law. -They applied the Roman law to everything in the German institutions -that seemed to have the most remote analogy with the legislation of -Justinian; and they thus introduced a new spirit and new usage into -the national legislation; by degrees it was so completely transformed -that it was no longer recognisable, and in the seventeenth century, for -instance, it was almost unknown. It had been replaced by a nondescript -something, which was German indeed in name, but Roman in fact. - -I find reason to believe that owing to these efforts of the legists, -the condition of ancient Germanic society deteriorated in many -respects, especially so far as the peasants were concerned; many of -those who had succeeded until then in preserving the whole or part of -their liberties or of their possessions, lost them at this period by -learned assimilations of their condition to that of the Roman bondsmen -or emphyteotes. - -This gradual transformation of the national law, and the vain efforts -which were made to oppose it, may be clearly traced in the history of -Würtemberg. - -From the origin of the county of that name in 1250, until the creation -of the duchy in 1495, the legislation was purely indigenous; it was -composed of customs and local laws made by the towns or by the Courts -of Seignory, and of statutes promulgated by the Estates; ecclesiastical -affairs alone were regulated by a foreign code, the canon law. - -From 1495 the character of the legislation was changed: the Roman -law began to penetrate; the _doctors_, as they were called, those -who had studied law in the foreign schools, entered the Government -and possessed themselves of the direction of the superior courts. -During the whole of the first half of the sixteenth century political -society maintained the same struggle against them that was going on -in England at the same time, but with very different success. At -the diet of Tübingen in 1514, and at those which succeeded it, the -representatives of feudalism and the deputies of the towns made all -kinds of representations against that which was taking place; they -attacked the legists who were invading all the courts, and changing the -spirit or the letter of all customs and laws. The advantage at first -seemed on their side; they obtained from the Government the promise -that henceforth the high courts should be composed of honourable and -enlightened men chosen from among the nobility and the Estates of the -Duchy, and not of doctors, and that a commission composed of agents -of the Government, and of representatives of the estates, should draw -up the project of a code which might serve as a rule throughout the -country. These efforts were vain. The Roman law soon drove the national -law out of a great portion of the legislation, and even took root in -the very ground on which it still suffered this legislation to subsist. - -This victory of a foreign over the indigenous law is ascribed by many -German historians to two causes:--1. To the movement which at that -period attracted all minds towards the languages and literature of -antiquity, and the contempt which this inspired for the intellectual -productions of the national genius. 2. To the idea which had always -possessed the whole of the Middle Ages in Germany, and which displays -itself even in the legislation of that period, that the Holy Empire was -the continuation of the Roman Empire, and that the legislation of the -former was an inheritance derived from the latter. - -These causes, however, are not sufficient to explain why the same law -should at the same period have been introduced into the whole continent -of Europe. I believe that this arose from the fact that at this time -the absolute power of the sovereigns was everywhere established on the -ruins of the ancient liberties of Europe, and that the Roman law, a law -of servitude, was admirably fitted to second their views. - -The Roman law which everywhere perfected civil society tended -everywhere to degrade political society, inasmuch as it was chiefly the -production of a highly civilised but much enslaved people. The kings -of Europe accordingly adopted it with eagerness, and established it -wherever they were the masters. Throughout Europe the interpreters of -this law became their ministers or their chief agents. When called on -to do so the legists even gave them the support of the law against the -law itself, and they have frequently done so since. Wherever there was -a sovereign who violated the laws we shall generally find at his side -a legist who assured him that nothing was more lawful, and who proved -most learnedly that his violence was just, and that the oppressed party -was in the wrong. - - -Note (II.)--Page 13, line 37. - -THE TRANSITION FROM FEUDAL TO DEMOCRATIC MONARCHY. - -As all monarchies had become absolute about the same period, it is -scarcely probable that this change of constitution was owing to any -particular circumstance which accidentally occurred at the same time -in every State, and we are led to the belief that all these similar -and contemporary events must have been produced by some general cause, -which simultaneously acted everywhere in the same manner. - -This general cause was the transition from one state of society to -another, from feudal inequality to democratic equality. The nobility -was already depressed, and the people were not yet raised; the former -were brought too low, and the latter were not sufficiently high to -restrain the action of the ruling power. For a hundred and fifty years -kings and princes enjoyed a sort of golden age, during which they -possessed at once stability and unlimited power, two things which are -usually incompatible; they were as sacred as the hereditary chiefs of a -feudal monarchy, and as absolute as the rulers of a democratic society. - - -Note (III.)--Page 14, line 25. - -DECAY OF THE FREE TOWNS OF GERMANY.--IMPERIAL TOWNS (REICHSTÄDTE). - -According to the German historians the period of the greatest splendour -of these towns was during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. They -were then the abode of wealth, of the arts and sciences--masters of the -commerce of Europe--the most powerful centres of civilisation. In the -north and in the south of Germany especially, they had ended by forming -independent confederations with the surrounding nobles, as the towns in -Switzerland had done with the peasants. - -In the sixteenth century they still enjoyed the same prosperity, but -the period of their decay was come. The Thirty-years’ War hastened -their fall, and scarcely one of them escaped destruction and ruin -during that period. - -Nevertheless, the Treaty of Westphalia mentions them positively, and -asserts their position as immediate States, that is to say, States -which depended immediately upon the Emperor; but the neighbouring -Sovereigns, on the one hand, and on the other the Emperor himself, the -exercise of whose power, since the Thirty-years’ War, was limited to -the lesser vassals of the empire, restricted their sovereignty within -narrower and narrower limits. In the eighteenth century fifty-one of -them were still in existence, they filled two benches at the Diet, and -had an independent vote there; but, in fact, they no longer exercised -any influence upon the direction of general affairs. - -At home they were all heavily burdened with debts, partly because they -continued to be charged for the Imperial taxes at a rate suited to -their former splendour, and partly because their own administration -was extremely bad. It is very remarkable that this bad administration -seemed to be the result of some secret disease which was common to -them all, whatever might be the form of their constitution; whether -aristocratic or democratic it equally gave rise to complaints, which, -if not precisely similar, were equally violent; if aristocratic, -the Government was said to have become a coterie composed of a few -families: everything was done by favour and private interest; if -democratic, popular intrigue and venality appeared on every side. -In either case there were complaints of the want of honesty and -disinterestedness on the part of the Governments. The Emperor was -continually forced to interpose in their affairs, and to try to restore -order in them. Their population decreased, and distress prevailed -in them. They were no longer the abodes of German civilisation; the -arts left them, and went to shine in the new towns created by the -sovereigns, and representing modern society. Trade forsook them--their -ancient energy and patriotic vigour disappeared. Hamburg almost alone -still remained a great centre of wealth and intelligence, but this was -owing to causes quite peculiar to herself. - - -Note (IV.)--Page 19, line 14. - -DATE OF THE ABOLITION OF SERFDOM IN GERMANY. - -The following table will show that the abolition of serfdom in most -parts of Germany has taken place very recently. Serfdom was abolished-- - -1. In Baden, in 1783. - -2. In Hohenzollern, in 1804. - -3. In Schleswig and Holstein, in 1804. - -4. In Nassau, in 1808. - -5. In Prussia, Frederick William I. had done away with serfdom in -his own domains so early as 1717. The code of the Great Frederick, -as we have already seen, was intended to abolish it throughout the -kingdom, but in reality it only got rid of it in its hardest form, -the _leibeigenschaft_, and retained it in the mitigated shape of -_erbunterthänigkeit_. It was not till 1809 that it disappeared -altogether. - -6. In Bavaria serfdom disappeared in 1808. - -7. A decree of Napoleon, dated from Madrid in 1808, abolished it in the -Grand-duchy of Berg, and in several other small territories, such as -Erfurt, Baireuth, &c. - -8. In the kingdom of Westphalia, its destruction dates from 1808 and -1809. - -9. In the principality of Lippe Detmold, from 1809. - -10. In Schomburg Lippe, from 1810. - -11. In Swedish Pomerania, from 1810 also. - -12. In Hessen Darmstadt, from 1809 and 1811. - -13. Würtemberg, from 1817. - -14. In Mecklenburg, from 1820. - -15. In Oldenburg, from 1814. - -16. In Saxony for Lusatia, from 1832. - -17. In Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, only from 1833. - -18. In Austria, from 1811. So early as in 1782 Joseph II. had -destroyed _leibeigenschaft_; but serfage in its mitigated form of -_erbunterthänigkeit_ lasted till 1811. - - -Note (V.)--Page 19, line 17. - -A part of the countries which are now German, such as Brandenburg, -Prussia proper, and Silesia, were originally inhabited by a Slavonic -race, and were conquered and partially occupied by Germans. In those -countries serfdom had a far harsher aspect than in Germany itself, and -left far stronger traces at the end of the eighteenth century. - - -Note (VI.)--Page 20, line 11. - -CODE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT. - -Amongst the works of Frederick the Great the least known, even in his -own country, and the least brilliant, is the Code drawn up under his -directions and promulgated by his successor. I do not know, however, -whether any of them throws more light upon the man himself and on his -time, or which more fully displays their reciprocal influence on each -other. - -This code is a real constitution, in the sense usually attached to the -word; it undertakes to define not only the relations of the citizens to -one another, but also the relations between the citizens and the State: -it is at once a civil code, a criminal code, and a charter. - -It rests, or appears to rest, on a certain number of general principles -expressed in a very philosophical and abstract form, and resembling in -many respects those which abound in the Declaration of the Rights of -Man in the French Constitution of 1791. - -It proclaims that the good of the State and of its inhabitants is -the object of society and the limit of the law; that the laws cannot -restrict the liberty or the rights of citizens except for the sake of -public utility; that every member of the State is bound to labour for -the public good, according to his position and fortune; and that the -rights of individuals must give way to the interests of the public. - -There is no mention of the hereditary right of the Sovereign and his -family, nor even of any private rights distinct from the rights of the -State. The name of the State is the only one used to designate royal -power. - -On the other hand, much is said about the general rights of man: these -general rights of man are based on the natural liberty of each to -pursue his advantage, provided it be done without injury to the rights -of others. All actions not forbidden by the natural law, or by the -positive laws of the State, are permitted. Every inhabitant of the -State may demand from it protection for his person and property, and -has the right to defend himself by force if the State does not come to -his assistance. - -After laying down these first great principles, the legislator, instead -of deducing from them, as in the code of 1791, the doctrine of the -sovereignty of the people and the organisation of a popular government -in a free state of society, turns shortly round and arrives at another -result equally democratic but by no means liberal; he looks upon the -sovereign as the sole representative of the State, and invests him -with all the rights that have been recognised as belonging to society. -In this code the sovereign is no longer the representative of God, he -is the representative of society, its agent and its servant, to use -Frederick’s own words printed in his works; but he alone represents -it, he alone wields its whole power. The head of the State, says the -Introduction, whose duty it is to bring forth the general good, which -is the sole object of society, is authorised to govern and direct all -the actions of individuals towards that end. - -Among the chief duties of this all-powerful agent of society we find -the following: to preserve peace and public security at home, and to -protect every one against violence. Abroad it is for him to make peace -or war; he only is to make laws and enact general police regulations; -he alone possesses the right to pronounce pardons and to stop criminal -proceedings. - -All associations that may exist in the State, and all public -establishments, are subject to his inspection and direction for the -sake of general peace and security. In order that the head of the -State may be enabled to fulfil these obligations, he must possess -certain revenues and profitable rights; accordingly he has the power of -taxing private fortunes and persons, their professions, their trades, -their produce, or their consumption. The orders given by the public -functionaries who act in his name are to be obeyed, like his own, in -all matters within the limits of their functions. - -Beneath this perfectly modern head we shall presently see a thoroughly -Gothic body; Frederick only removed from it whatever stood in the way -of the action of his own power, and the result was a monster which -looked like a transition from one order of creation to another. In this -strange production Frederick exhibited as much contempt for logic as -care for his own power and anxiety not to place needless difficulties -in his own way by attacking that which was still strong enough to -defend itself. - -The inhabitants of the rural districts, with the exception of a few -districts and a few places, were in a state of hereditary servitude, -which was not confined to the forced labour and services inherent to -the possession of certain estates, but which extended, as we have seen, -to the person of the possessor. - -Most of the privileges of the owners of the soil were confirmed afresh -by the code; it may even be said that they were confirmed in opposition -to the code, since it states that where the local customs and the -new legislation differed the former were to be followed. It formally -declares that the State cannot destroy any of these privileges except -by purchasing them and the following forms of justice. - -The code asserted, it is true, that serfage, properly so called -(_leibeigenschaft_), inasmuch as it established personal servitude, -was abolished, but the hereditary subjection which replaced it -(_erbunterthänigkeit_) was still a kind of servitude, as may be seen by -reading the text. - -In the same code the burgher remained carefully separated from the -peasant; between the burghers and the nobility a sort of intermediate -class was recognised, composed of high functionaries who were not -noble, ecclesiastics, professors of learned schools, gymnasia and -universities. - -Though apart from the rest of the burghers, these men were by no means -confounded with the nobles; they remained in a position of inferiority -towards them. They could not in general purchase noble estates -(_rittergüter_), or fill the highest places in the civil service. -Moreover, they were not _hoffähig_, that is to say, they could not be -presented at court except in very rare cases, and never with their -families. As in France, this inferiority was the more irksome, because -every day this class became more enlightened and influential, and the -burgher functionaries of the State, though they did not occupy the -most brilliant posts, already filled those in which the work was the -hardest and the most important. The irritation against the privileges -of the nobility, which was about to contribute so largely to the -French Revolution, prepared the way for the approbation with which it -was at first received in Germany. The principal author of the code, -nevertheless, was a burgher; but he doubtless followed the directions -of his master. - -The ancient constitution of Europe was not sufficiently destroyed in -this part of Germany to make Frederick believe that, in spite of the -contempt with which he regarded it, the time was yet come for sweeping -away its remains. He mostly confined himself to depriving the nobles -of the right of assembling and governing collectively, and left each -individual in possession of his privileges, only restricting and -regulating their application. Thus it happened that this code, drawn up -under the direction of a disciple of our philosophers, and put in force -after the French Revolution had broken out, is the most authentic and -the most recent legislative document that gives a legal basis to those -very feudal inequalities which the Revolution was about to abolish -throughout Europe. - -In it the nobility was declared to be the principal body in the State; -the nobles were to be appointed by preference, it says, to all posts of -honour which they might be competent to fill. They alone might possess -noble estates, create entails, enjoy the privileges of sporting and -of the administration of justice inherent in noble estates, as well -as the rights of patronage over the Church; they alone might take the -name of the estates they possessed. The burghers who were authorised by -express exemption to own noble estates could only enjoy the rights and -honours attached to their ownership, within the precise limits of this -permission. A burgher possessed of a noble estate could not bequeath it -to an heir of his own class unless he was within the first degree of -consanguinity. If there was no such heir, or any heir of noble birth, -the estate was to be sold by public auction. - -One of the most characteristic parts of Frederick’s code is the penal -law for political offences, which is appended to it. - -The successor of the Great Frederick, Frederick William II., who, in -spite of the feudal and absolutist portion of the legislation, of which -I have given a sketch, thought he perceived a revolutionary tendency -in his uncle’s production, and accordingly delayed its publication -until 1794, was only reassured, it is said, by the excellent penal -regulations by means of which this code corrected the bad principles -which it contained. Never, indeed, has anything been contrived, even -since that time, more perfect in its kind; not only were revolts and -conspiracies to be punished with the greatest severity, but even -disrespectful criticisms of the acts of the Government were likewise -to be most severely repressed. The purchase and dissemination of -dangerous works was carefully prohibited; the printer, the publisher, -and the disseminator were made responsible for the sins of the author. -Ridottos, masquerades, and other amusements, were declared to be public -assemblages, and must be authorised by the police; the same thing held -good with respect to dinners in public places. The liberty of the press -and of speech was completely subjected to an arbitrary surveillance; -the carrying of fire-arms was also prohibited. - -In the midst of this production, of which half was borrowed from the -Middle Ages, there appear regulations, which, by their extreme spirit -of centralisation, actually bordered on socialism. Thus, it is laid -down that it is incumbent on the State to provide food, work, and -wages for all who are unable to maintain themselves, and who are not -entitled to assistance either from the lord or from the parish: for -such as these work was to be provided, according to their strength and -capacity. The State was to form establishments for the relief of the -poverty of its citizens; the State, moreover, was authorised to destroy -foundations which tended to encourage idleness, and to distribute -amongst the poor the money under their control. - -The novelty and boldness of the theories, and the timidity in practice -which characterises this work of the Great Frederick, may be found in -every part of it. On the one hand, it proclaimed the great principle of -modern society, that all ought to be alike subject to taxation; on the -other, it suffered the provincial laws, which contain exemptions from -this rule, to subsist. It ordained that all lawsuits between a subject -and the sovereign shall be judged according to the forms and precedents -laid down for all other litigation; but, in fact, this rule was never -obeyed when the interests or the passions of the King were opposed to -it. The Mill of Sans-Souci was ostentatiously exhibited, while on many -other occasions justice was quietly suppressed. - -The best proof of how little real innovation was contained in this -apparently innovating code, and which, therefore, renders it a most -curious study for those who desire to know the true state of society -in that part of Germany at the end of the eighteenth century, is that -the Prussian nation scarcely seemed to be conscious of its publication. -The legists alone studied it, and at the present day a great number of -educated men have never read it. - - -Note (VII.)--Page 21, last line. - -LANDS OF THE PEASANTS IN GERMANY. - -Amongst the peasantry there were many families who were not only -freemen and owners of land, but whose estates formed a perpetual -entail. The estate they possessed could not be divided, and was -inherited by only one of the sons, usually the youngest, as is the case -in certain English customs. This son was only bound to pay a certain -portion to his brothers and sisters. - -These _Erbgüter_ of the peasantry were more or less common throughout -Germany; for in no part of it was the whole of the soil swallowed up by -the feudal system. In Silesia, where the nobility still retain immense -domains, of which most of the villages formed a part, there were -nevertheless villages owned entirely by their inhabitants, and entirely -free. In certain parts of Germany, such as the Tyrol and Friesland, the -predominant state of things was that the peasants owned the soil as -_Erbgüter_. - -But in the greater part of Germany this kind of possession was but a -more or less frequent exception. In the villages where it existed the -small proprietors of this kind formed a sort of aristocracy among the -peasantry. - - -Note (VIII.)--Page 22, line 3. - -POSITION OF THE NOBILITY AND DIVISION OF LANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF THE -RHINE. - -From information gathered on the spot, and from persons who lived -under the old state of things, I gather that in the Electorate of -Cologne, for instance, there was a great number of villages without -lords, governed by the agents of the Prince; that in those places -where the nobility existed, its administrative powers were much -restricted; that its position was rather brilliant than powerful (at -least individually); that they enjoyed many honours, and formed part -of the council of the Prince, but exercised no real and immediate -power over the people. I have ascertained from other sources that in -the same electorate property was much divided, and that a great number -of the peasants were landowners; this was mainly attributable to the -state of embarrassment and almost distress in which so many of the -noble families had long lived, and which compelled them constantly -to alienate small portions of their land which were bought by the -peasants, either for ready money or at a fixed rent-charge. I have read -a census of the population of the Bishopric of Cologne at the beginning -of the eighteenth century, which gives the state of landed property at -that time, and I find that even then one-third of the soil belonged -to the peasants. From this fact arose a combination of feelings and -ideas which brought the population of this part of Germany far nearer -to a state of revolution than that of other districts in which these -peculiarities had not yet shown themselves. - - -Note (IX.)--Page 22, line 27. - -HOW THE USURY LAWS HAD ACCELERATED THE SUBDIVISION OF THE SOIL. - -A law prohibiting usury at whatever rate of interest was still in -force at the end of the eighteenth century. We learn from Turgot that -even so late as 1769 it was still observed in many places. The law -subsists, says he, though it is often violated. The consular judges -allow interest stipulated without alienation of the capital, while the -ordinary tribunals condemn it. We may still see fraudulent debtors -bring criminal actions against their creditors for lending them money -without alienation of the capital. - -Independently of the effects which this legislation could not fail to -produce upon commerce, and upon the industrial habits of the nation -generally, it likewise had a very marked influence on the division -and tenure of the land. It had multiplied, _ad infinitum_, perpetual -rent-charges, both on real and other property. It had led the ancient -owners of the soil instead of borrowing when they wanted money to sell -small portions of their estates for payments partly in capital and -partly in perpetual annuities; this had contributed greatly on the one -hand to the subdivision of the soil, and on the other to burdening the -small proprietors with a multitude of perpetual services. - - -Note (X.)--Page 25, line 9. - -EXAMPLE OF THE PASSIONS EXCITED BY THE TITHES TEN YEARS BEFORE THE -REVOLUTION. - -In 1779 an obscure lawyer of Lucé complained in very bitter language, -which already had a flavour of the revolution, that the curés and other -great titheholders sold to the farmers, at an exorbitant price, the -straw they had received in tithe, which was indispensable to the latter -for making manure. - - -Note (XI.)--Page 25, line 15. - -EXAMPLE OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE CLERGY ALIENATED THE PEOPLE BY THE -EXERCISE OF ITS PRIVILEGES. - -In 1780 the prior and the canons of the priory of Laval complained -of an attempt to subject them to the payment of the tariff duties on -articles of consumption, and on the materials needed for the repairs -of their buildings. They pleaded that as the tariff duties represented -the _taille_, and as they were exempt from the _taille_, they therefore -owed nothing. The minister referred them to a decision at the election, -with the right of appeal to the _Cour des Aides_. - - -Note (XII.)--Page 25, line 23. - -FEUDAL RIGHTS POSSESSED BY PRIESTS.--ONE EXAMPLE FROM AMONGST A -THOUSAND. - -_Abbey of Cherbourg_ (1753).--This abbey possessed at this period the -seignorial rent-charges, payable in money or in kind in almost every -parish round Cherbourg; one single village owed it three hundred and -six bushels of wheat. It owned the barony of Ste. Geneviève, the -barony and the seignorial mill of Bas-du-Roule, and the barony of -Neuville-au-Plein, situated at a distance of at least ten leagues. It -received moreover the tithes of twelve parishes in the peninsula, of -which several were very distant from it. - - -Note (XIII.)--Page 27, line 21. - -IRRITATION AMONG THE PEASANTS CAUSED BY FEUDAL RIGHTS, AND ESPECIALLY -BY THE FEUDAL RIGHTS OF THE PRIESTS. - -The following letter was written shortly before the Revolution by a -farmer to the Intendant himself. It cannot be quoted as an authority -for the truth of the facts which it alleges, but it is a perfect -indication of the state of feeling among the class to which its writer -belonged. - -‘Although we have few nobles in this part of the country,’ says -he, ‘you must not suppose that the land is any the less burdened -with rent-charges; far from it, almost all the fiefs belong to the -cathedral, to the archbishopric, to the College of St. Martin, to the -Benedictines of Noirmoutiers, of Saint Julien, and other ecclesiastics, -who never suffer them to lapse from disuse, but perpetually hatch fresh -ones out of musty old parchments which are manufactured God only knows -how! - -‘The whole country is infected with rent-charges. The greater part of -the land owes annually a seventh of wheat per half acre, others owe -wine; one has to send a quarter of his fruit to the seigneurie, another -the fifth, &c., the tithe being always previously deducted; this man a -twelfth, that a thirteenth. All these rights are so strange that I know -them of all amounts, from a fourth to a fortieth of the fruit. - -‘What is to be said of the dues payable in all kinds of grain, -vegetables, money, poultry, labour, wood, fruit, candles? - -‘I know strange dues in bread, wax, eggs, pigs without the head, -wreaths of roses, bunches of violets, gilt spurs, &c. There is also -a countless multitude of other seignorial rights. Why has not France -been released from all these absurd dues? At last men’s eyes are -beginning to be opened, and everything may be hoped from the wisdom of -the present Government: it will stretch forth a helping hand to the -poor victims of the exactions of the old fiscal laws called seignorial -rights, which ought never to be alienated or sold. - -‘Again, what shall we think of the tyranny of fines (_lods et -ventes_)? A purchaser exhausts his means to buy some land, and is -then compelled to pay heavy expenses for adjudication and contract, -entering upon possession, _procès-verbaux_ (_contrôle_), verification -and registration (_insinuation_), hundredth _denier_, eight sous in -the livre, &c.: and besides all this, he has to submit his contract to -his seigneur, who makes him pay the fines (_lods et ventes_) on the -principal of his purchase; some exact a twelfth, others a tenth: some -demand a fifteenth, others a fifteenth and the fifth of that again. -In short they are to be found of all prices; and I even know some -who exact a third of the purchase money. No, the fiercest and most -barbarous nations in the universe never invented exactions so great and -so numerous as those of which our tyrants have heaped upon the heads of -our forefathers.’ (This philosophical and literary tirade is misspelt -throughout.) - -‘How! can the late king have authorised the redemption of rent-charges -on property in towns and not have included those in the country? The -latter ought to have come first: why should the poor farmers not be -allowed to burst their fetters, to redeem and free themselves from the -multitude of seignorial rent-charges which cause so much injury to -the vassals and so little profit to their lords? There ought to be no -distinction as to the power of redemption between town and country and -between the lords and private persons. - -‘The Intendants of the incumbents of ecclesiastical property pillage -and mulct all their farmers every time the property changes hands. We -have a recent example of this. The intendant of our new archbishop on -his arrival gave notice to quit to all the farmers of his predecessor -M. de Fleury, declared all the leases which they had taken under him -to be void, and turned out all who would not double their leases and -give over again heavy “pots de vin,” which they had already paid to -the intendant of M. de Fleury. They were thus deprived, in the most -notorious manner, of seven or eight years of their leases which had -still to run, and were forced to leave their homes suddenly just -before Christmas, the most critical time of the year on account of the -difficulty of procuring food for cattle, without knowing where to go -for shelter. The King of Prussia could have done no worse.’ - -It seems, indeed, that on ecclesiastical property the leases of the -preceding incumbent were not legally binding on his successor. The -author of the above letter is quite correct in his statement that -the feudal rent-charges were redeemable in the towns and not in -the country. It is a fresh proof of the neglect shown towards the -peasantry, and of the way in which all those placed above them found -means to forward their own interests. - - -Note (XIV.)--Page 27, line 27. - -EFFECTS OF FEUDALISM. - -Every institution that has long been dominant, after establishing -itself firmly in its proper sphere, penetrates beyond it, and ends by -exerting considerable influence even over that part of the legislation -which it does not govern; thus feudalism, although it belonged above -all to political law, had transformed the whole civil law as well, -and deeply modified the state of property and of persons in all the -relations of private life. It had affected the law of inheritance by -the inequality of partition, a principle which had even reached down to -the middle classes in certain provinces, for instance, Normandy. Its -influence had extended over all real property, for no landed estates -were entirely excluded from its action, or of which the owners did not -in some way feel its effects. It affected not only the property of -individuals but even that of the communes; it reacted on manufactures -by the duties which it levied upon them; it reacted on private incomes -by the inequality of public employments, and on pecuniary interests -generally in every man’s business; on landowners by dues, rent-charges, -and the corvée; on the tenant in a thousand different ways, amongst -others by the _banalités_ (the right of the seigneur to compel his -vassals to grind their corn at his mill, &c.), seignorial monopolies, -perpetual rent-charges, fines, &c.; on tradesmen, by the market dues; -on merchants by the transport dues, &c. By putting the final stroke -to the feudal system the Revolution made itself seen and felt, so to -speak, at all the most sensitive points of private interest. - - -Note (XV.)--Page 35, line 8. - -PUBLIC CHARITY DISTRIBUTED BY THE STATE.--FAVOURITISM. - -In 1748 the King granted 20,000 lbs. of rice (it was a year of great -want and scarcity, like so many in the eighteenth century). The -Archbishop of Tours asserted that this relief was obtained by him, -and ought therefore to be distributed by him alone and in his own -diocese. The Intendant declared that the succour was granted to the -whole _généralité_, and ought therefore to be distributed by him to -all the different parishes. After a protracted struggle, the King, -by way of conciliating both, doubled the quantity of rice intended -for the _généralité_, so that the Archbishop and the Intendant might -each distribute half. Both were agreed that the distribution should -be made by the curés. There was no question of entrusting it to the -seigneurs or to the syndics. We see, from the correspondence between -the Intendant and the Comptroller-General, that in the opinion of -the former the Archbishop wanted to give the rice entirely to his -own protégés, and especially to cause the greater part of it to be -distributed in the parishes belonging to the Duchess of Rochechouart. -On the other hand, we find among these papers letters from great -noblemen asking relief for their own parishes in particular, and -letters from the Comptroller-General recommending the parishes -belonging to particular persons. - -Legal charity gives scope for abuses, whatever be the system pursued; -but it is perfectly impracticable when exercised from a distance and -without publicity by the Central Government. - - -Note (XVI.)--Page 35, line 8. - -EXAMPLE OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THIS LEGAL CHARITY WAS ADMINISTERED. - -We find in the report made to the provincial assembly of Upper Guienne -in 1780: ‘Out of the sum of 385,000 livres, the amount of the funds -granted by his Majesty to this _généralité_ from 1773, when the -_travaux de charité_ were first established, until 1779 inclusively, -the elective district of Montauban, which is the chef-lieu and -residence of the Intendant, has received for its own share above -240,000 livres, the greater part of which sum was actually paid to the -communauté of Montauban. - - -Note (XVII.)--Page 35, line 12. - -POWERS OF THE INTENDANT FOR THE REGULATION OF TRADES AND MANUFACTURES. - -The archives of the Intendancies are full of documents relating to this -regulation of trades and manufactures. - -Not only was industry subjected to the restrictions placed upon it by -the _corps d’état_, _maîtrises_, &c., but it was abandoned to all the -caprices of the Government, usually represented by the King’s council, -as far as general regulations went, and by the intendants in their -special application. We find the latter constantly interfering as to -the length of which the pieces of cloth are to be woven, the pattern -to be chosen, the method to be followed, and the defects to be avoided -in the manufacture. They had under their orders, independently of -the sub-delegates, local inspectors of manufactures. In this respect -centralisation was pushed even further than at the present time; it -was more capricious and more arbitrary: it raised up swarms of public -functionaries, and created all manner of habits of submission and -dependence. - -It must be remembered that these habits were engrafted above all upon -the manufacturing and commercial middle classes whose triumph was at -hand, far more than upon those which were doomed to defeat. Accordingly -the Revolution, instead of destroying these habits, could not fail to -make them spread and predominate. - -All the preceding remarks have been suggested by the perusal of a -voluminous correspondence and other documents, entitled ‘Manufactures -and Fabrics, Drapery, Dry-goods,’ which are to be found among the -remaining papers belonging to the archives of the Intendancy of the -Isle of France. They likewise contain frequent and detailed reports -from the inspectors to the Intendant of the visits they have made to -the various manufactures, in order to ascertain whether the regulations -laid down for the methods of fabrication are observed. There are, -moreover, sundry orders in council, given by the advice of the -Intendant, prohibiting or permitting the manufacture, either in certain -places, of certain stuffs, or according to certain methods. - -The predominant idea in the remarks of these inspectors, who treat -the manufacturers with great disdain, is that it is the duty and the -right of the State to compel them to do their very best, not only for -the sake of the public interest, but for their own. Accordingly they -thought themselves bound to force them to adopt the best methods, and -to enter carefully into every detail of their art, accompanying this -kind interest with countless prohibitions and enormous fines. - - -Note (XVIII.)--Page 36, last line. - -SPIRIT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF LOUIS XI. - -No document better enables us to estimate the true spirit of the -government of Louis XI. than the numerous constitutions granted by him -to the towns. I have had occasion to study very carefully those which -he conferred on most of the towns of Anjou, of Maine, and of Touraine. - -All these constitutions are formed on the same model, and the same -designs are manifest in them all. The figure of Louis XI., which they -reveal to us, is rather different from the one which we are familiar -with. We are accustomed to consider him as the enemy of the nobility, -but at the same time as the sincere though somewhat stern friend of the -people. Here, however, he shows the same hatred towards the political -rights of the people and of the nobility. He makes use of the middle -classes to pull down those above them, and to keep down those below: -he is equally anti-aristocratic and anti-democratic; he is essentially -the citizen-king. He heaps privileges upon the principal persons of -the towns, whose importance he desires to increase; he profusely -confers nobility on them, thus lowering its value, and at the same -time he destroys the whole popular and democratic character of the -administration of the towns, and restricts the government of them to -a small number of families attached to his reforms, and bound to his -authority by immense advantages. - - -Note (XIX.)--Page 37, line 30. - -ADMINISTRATION OF A TOWN IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. - -I extract from the inquiry made in 1764 into the administration of -towns, the document relating to Angers; in it we shall find the -constitution of the town analysed, attacked, and defended by turns by -the Présidial, the Corporation, the Sub-delegate, and the Intendant. As -the same facts were repeated in a great number of other places, this -must not be looked upon merely as an individual picture. - - ‘_Report of the Présidial on the actual state of the Municipal - Corporation of Angers, and on the Reforms to be made in it._’ - -‘The corporation of Angers,’ says the Présidial, ‘never consults the -inhabitants generally, even on the most important subjects, except in -cases in which it is obliged by special orders to do so. This system of -administration is, therefore, unknown to all those who do not belong to -the corporation, even to the échevins amovibles, who have but a very -superficial idea of it.’ - -(The tendency of all these small civic oligarchies was, indeed, to -consult what are here called the inhabitants generally as little as -possible.) - -The corporation was composed, according to an arrêt de règlement of -29th March, 1681, of twenty-one officers:-- - -A mayor, who becomes noble, and whose functions continue for four years. - -Four échevins amovibles, who remain in office two years. - -Twelve échevins conseillers, who, when once elected, remain for life. - -Two procureurs de ville. - -One procureur in reversion. - -One greffier. - -They possessed various privileges, amongst others the following: their -capitation tax was fixed and moderate; they were exempt from having -soldiers billeted upon them and from providing ustensiles, fournitures, -and contributions; from the franchise des droits, the cloison double -and triple, the old and new octroi and accessoire on all articles of -consumption, even from the don gratuit, from which, says the Présidial, -they chose to exempt themselves on their own private authority; they -receive moreover allowances for wax-lights, and some of them salaries -and apartments. - -We see by these details that it was a very pleasant thing to be -perpetual échevins of Angers in those days. Always and everywhere we -find the system which makes the exemption from taxation fall on the -richest classes. In a subsequent part of the same report we read: -‘These places are sought by the richest inhabitants, who aspire to -them in order to obtain a considerable reduction of capitation, the -surcharge of which falls on the others. There are at present several -municipal officers, whose fixed capitation is 30 livres, whereas they -ought to be taxed 250 or 300 livres; there is one especially among -them, who, considering his fortune, might pay, at least, 1000 livres -of capitation tax.’ We find in another part of the same report, that -‘amongst the richest inhabitants there are upwards of forty officers, -or widows of officers (men holding office), whose places confer on them -the privilege of not contributing to the heavy capitation levied on the -town; the burden of this capitation accordingly falls on a vast number -of poor artisans, who think themselves overtaxed, and constantly appeal -against the excessive charges upon them, though almost always unjustly, -inasmuch as there is no inequality in the distribution of the amount, -which remains to be paid by the town.’ - - * * * * * - -The General Assembly consisted of seventy-six persons:-- - - The Mayor; - Two deputies from the Chapter; - One Syndic of the clerks; - Two deputies from the Présidial; - One deputy from the University; - One Lieutenant-general of Police; - Four Échevins; - Twelve Conseillers-échevins; - One Procureur du Roi au Présidial; - One Procureur de Ville; - Two deputies from the Eaux et Forêts; - Two from the Élection (elective district?); - Two from the Grenier à sel; - Two from the Traites; - Two from the Mint; - Two from the body of Avocats and Procureurs; - Two from the Juges Consuls; - Two from the Notaries; - Two from the body of Merchants; and, lastly, - Two sent by each of the sixteen parishes. - -These last were supposed to represent the people, properly so called, -especially the industrial corporations. We see that care had been taken -to keep them in a constant minority. - -When the places in the town corporation fell vacant, the general -assembly selected three persons to fill each vacancy. - -Most of the offices belonging to the Hôtel de Ville were not -exclusively given to members of corporations, as was the case in -several municipal constitutions, that is to say, the electors were not -obliged to choose from among them their magistrates, advocates, &c. -This was highly disapproved by the members of the Présidial. - -According to this Présidial, which appears to have been filled with -the most violent jealousy against the corporation of the town, -and which I strongly suspect objected to nothing so much in the -municipal constitution as that it did not enjoy as many privileges -in it as it desired, ‘the General Assembly, which is too numerous, -and consists, in part, of persons of very little intelligence, ought -only to be consulted in cases of sale of the communal domains, loans, -establishment of octrois, and elections of municipal officers. All -other business matters might be discussed in a smaller assembly, -composed only of the _notables_. This assembly should consist only of -the Lieutenant-General of the Sénéchaussée, the Procureur du Roi, and -twelve other notables, chosen from amongst the six bodies of clergy, -magistracy, nobility, university, trade, and bourgeois, and others not -belonging to the above-named bodies. The choice of the notables should -at first be confined to the General Assembly, and subsequently to the -Assembly of _Notables_, or to the body from which each _notable_ is to -be selected.’ - -All these functionaries of the State, who thus entered in virtue of -their office or as _notables_ into the municipal corporations of the -ancien régime, frequently resembled those of the present day as to -the name of the office which they held, and sometimes even as to the -nature of that office; but they differed from them completely as to the -position which they held, which must be carefully borne in mind, unless -we wish to arrive at false conclusions. Almost all these functionaries -were _notables_ of the town previous to being invested with public -functions, or they had striven to obtain public functions in order to -become notables; they had no thought of leaving their own town and no -hope of any higher promotion, which alone is sufficient to distinguish -them completely from anything with which we are acquainted at the -present day. - -_Report of the Municipal Officers._--We see by this that the -corporation of the town was created in 1474, by Louis XI., on the ruins -of the ancient democratic constitution of the town, on the system which -we have already described of restricting political rights to the middle -classes only, of setting aside or weakening the popular influence, of -creating a great number of municipal officers in order to interest -a greater number of persons in his reform, of a prodigal grant of -hereditary nobility, and of all sorts of privileges, to that part of -the middle classes in whose hands the administration was placed. - -We find in the same report letters patent from the successors of Louis -XI. which acknowledge this new constitution, while they still further -restrict the power of the people. We learn that in 1485 the letters -patent issued to this effect by Charles VIII. were attacked before the -parliament by the inhabitants of Angers, just as in England a lawsuit, -arising out of the charter of a town, would have been brought before a -court of justice. In 1601 a decision of the parliament determined the -political rights created by the Royal Charter. From that time forward -nothing appears but the _conseil du Roi_. - -We gather from the same report that, not only for the office of mayor, -but for all other offices belonging to the corporation of the town, -the General Assembly proposed three candidates, from amongst whom the -King selects one, in virtue of a decree of the council of 22nd June, -1708. It appears, moreover, that in virtue of decisions of the council -of 1733 and 1741, the merchants had the right of claiming one place of -_échevin_ or _conseiller_ (the perpetual échevins). Lastly, we find -that at that period the corporation of the town was entrusted with the -distribution of the sums levied for the capitation, the _ustensile_, -the barracks, the support of the poor, the soldiery, coast-guard, and -foundlings. - -There follows a long enumeration of the labours to be undergone by -the municipal officers, which fully justified, in their opinion, -the privileges and the perpetual tenure of office, which they were -evidently greatly afraid of losing. Many of the reasons which -they assign for their exertions are curious; amongst others, the -following: ‘Their most important avocations,’ they say, ‘consist in -the examination of financial affairs, which continually increased, -owing to the constant extension of the _droits d’aides_, the _gabelle_, -the _contrôle_, the _insinuation des actes_, _perception illicite des -droits d’enrégistrement et de francs fiefs_. The opposition which -was incessantly offered by the financial companies to these various -taxes compelled them to defend actions in behalf of the town before -the various jurisdictions, either the parliament or the _conseil du -Roi_, in order to resist the oppression under which they suffered. -The experience and practice of thirty years had taught them that -the term of a man’s life scarcely suffices to guard against all the -snares and pitfalls which the clerks of all the departments of the -_fermes_ continually set for the citizens in order to keep their own -commissions.’ - -The most curious circumstance is, that all this is addressed to the -Comptroller-General himself, in order to dispose him favourably towards -the privileges of those who make the statement, so inveterate had the -habit become of looking upon the companies charged with the collection -of the taxes as an enemy who might be attacked on every side without -blame or opposition. This habit grew stronger and more universal every -day, until all taxation came to be looked upon as an unfair and hateful -tyranny; not as the agent of all men, but as the common enemy. - -‘The union of all the offices,’ the report goes on to say, ‘was -effected for the first time by an order in council of the 4th -September, 1694, for a sum of 22,000 livres;’ that is to say, that the -offices were redeemed in that year for the above-named sum. By an order -of 26th April, 1723, the municipal offices created by the edict of 24th -May, 1722, were united to the corporation of the town, or, in other -words, the town was authorised to purchase them. By another order of -24th May, 1723, the town was permitted to borrow 120,000 livres for the -purchase of the said offices. Another order of 26th July, 1728, allowed -it to borrow 50,000 livres for the purchase of the office of _greffier_ -secretary of the Hôtel de Ville. ‘The town,’ says the report, ‘has -paid these moneys in order to maintain the freedom of its elections, -and to secure to the officers elected--some for two years and others -for life--the various prerogatives belonging to their offices.’ A part -of the municipal offices having been re-established by the edict of -November, 1733, an order in council intervened, dated 11th January, -1751, at the request of the mayor and échevins, fixing the rate of -redemption at 170,000 livres, for the payment of which a prorogation of -the octrois was granted for fifteen years. - -This is a good specimen of the administration of the monarchy, as far -as the towns were concerned. They were forced to contract debts, and -then authorised to impose extraordinary and temporary taxes in order to -pay them. Moreover, I find that these temporary taxes were frequently -rendered perpetual after some time, and then the Government took its -share of them. - -The report continues thus: ‘The municipal officers were only deprived -of the important judicial powers with which Louis XI. had invested -them by the establishment of royal jurisdictions. Until 1669 they took -cognisance of all disputes between masters and workmen. The accounts -of the octrois are rendered to the Intendant, as directed in all the -decrees for the creation or prorogation of the said octrois.’ - -We likewise find in this report that the deputies of the sixteen -parishes, who were mentioned above, and who appeared at the General -Assembly, were chosen by the companies, corporations, or _communautés_, -and that they were strictly the envoys of the small bodies by which -they were deputed. They were bound by exact instructions on every point -of business. - -Lastly, this report proves that at Angers, as everywhere else, every -kind of expenditure was to be authorised by the Intendant and the -Council; and, it must be admitted, that when the administration of -a town is given over completely into the hands of a certain number -of men, to whom, instead of fixed salaries, are conceded privileges -which place them personally beyond the reach of the consequences -which their administration may produce upon the private fortunes of -their fellow-citizens, this administrative superintendence may appear -necessary. - -The whole of the report, which is very ill drawn up, betrays -extraordinary dread, on the part of the official men, of any change in -the existing order of things. All manner of arguments, good and bad, -are brought forward by them in favour of maintaining the status quo. - -_Report of the Sub-delegate._--The Intendant having received these -two reports of opposite tendency, desires to have the opinion of his -Sub-delegate, who gives it as follows:-- - -‘The report of the municipal councillors,’ says he, ‘does not deserve -a moment’s attention; it is merely intended to defend the privileges -of those officers. That of the _présidial_ may be consulted with -advantage; but there is no reason for granting all the prerogatives -claimed by those magistrates.’ - -According to the Sub-delegate, the constitution of the Hôtel de Ville -has long stood in need of reform. Besides the immunities already -mentioned, which were enjoyed by the municipal officers of Angers, he -informs us that the Mayor, during his tenure of office, had a dwelling -which was worth, at least, 600 francs rent, a salary of 50 francs, and -100 francs for _frais de poste_, besides the jetons. The _procureur -syndic_ was also lodged, and the _greffier_ as well. In order to -procure their own exemption from the _droits d’aides_ and the _octroi_, -the municipal officers had fixed an assumed standard of consumption for -each of them. Each of them had the right of importing into the town, -free of duty, so many barrels of wine yearly, and the same with all -other provisions. - -The Sub-delegate does not propose to deprive the municipal councillors -of their immunities from taxation, but he desires that their -capitation, instead of being fixed and very inadequate, should be -taxed every year by the Intendant. He desires that they should also -be subject, like every one else, to the _don gratuit_, which they had -dispensed themselves from paying, on what precedent no one can tell. - -The municipal officers, the report says further, are charged with -the duty of drawing up the _rôles de capitation_ for all the -inhabitants--a duty which they perform in a negligent and arbitrary -manner; accordingly a vast number of complaints and memorials are -sent in to the Intendant every year. It is much to be desired that -henceforth the division should be made in the interest of each company -or _communauté_ by its own members, according to stated and general -rules; the municipal officers would have to make out only the _rôles de -capitation_, for the burghers and others who belong to no corporation, -such as some of the artisans and the servants of all privileged persons. - -The report of the Sub-delegate confirms what has already been said of -the municipal officers--that the municipal offices had been redeemed by -the town in 1735 for the sum of 170,000 livres. - -_Letter the Intendant to the Comptroller-General._--Supported by -all these documents, the Intendant writes to the Minister: ‘It is -important, for the sake of the inhabitants and of the public good, -to reduce the corporation of the town, the members of which are too -numerous and extremely burdensome to the public, on account of the -privileges they enjoy.’ ‘I am struck,’ continues the Intendant, -‘with the enormous sums which have been paid at all periods for the -redemption of the municipal offices at Angers. The amount of these -sums, if employed on useful purposes, would have been profitable to -the town, which, on the contrary, has gained nothing but an increased -burden in the authority and privileges enjoyed by these officers.’ - -‘The interior abuses of this administration deserve the whole attention -of the council,’ says the Intendant further. ‘Independently of the -_jetons_ and the wax-lights, which consume an annual sum of 2127 livres -(the amount fixed for expenses of this kind by the normal budget, -which from time to time was prescribed for the towns by the King), -the public moneys are squandered and misapplied at the will of these -officers to clandestine purposes, and the _procureur du Roi_, who has -been in possession of his place for thirty or forty years, has made -himself so completely master of the administration, with the secret -springs of which he alone is acquainted, that the inhabitants have at -all times found it impossible to obtain the smallest information as -to the employment of the communal revenues.’ The result of all this -is, that the Intendant requests the Minister to reduce the corporation -of the town to a mayor appointed for four years, a _procureur du Roi_ -appointed for eight, and a _greffier_ and _receveur_ appointed for life. - -Altogether the constitution which he proposes for this corporation is -exactly the same as that which he elsewhere suggested for towns. In his -opinion it would be desirable-- - -1st. To maintain the General Assembly, but only as an electoral body -for the election of municipal officers. - -2nd. To create an extraordinary _Conseil de Notables_, which should -perform all the functions which the edict of 1764 had apparently -entrusted to the General Assembly; the said council to consist of -twelve members, whose tenure of office should be for six years, and -who should be elected, not by the General Assembly but by the twelve -corporations considered as _notable_ (each corporation-electing its -own). He enumerates the _corps notables_ as follows:-- - -The Présidial. - -The University. - -The Election. - -The Officers of Woods and Forests. - -The Grenier à sel. - -The Traites. - -The Mint. - -The Avocats and Procureurs. - -The Juges Consuls. - -The Notaires. - -The Tradesmen. - -The Burghers. - -It appears that nearly all these _notables_ were public functionaries, -and nearly all the public functionaries were notables; hence we may -conclude, as from a thousand other passages in these documents, that -the middle classes were as greedy of place and as little inclined to -seek a sphere of activity removed from Government employment. The only -difference, as I have said in the text, was that formerly men purchased -the trifling importance which office gave them, and that now the -claimants beg and entreat some one to be so charitable as to get it for -them gratis. - -We see that, according to the project we have described, the whole -municipal power was to rest with the extraordinary council, which would -completely restrict the administration to a very small middle-class -coterie, while the only assembly in which the people still made their -appearance at all was to have no privilege beyond that of electing -the municipal officers, without any right to advise or control them. -It must also be observed that the Intendant was more in favour of -restriction and more opposed to popular influence than the King, -whose edict seemed intended to place most of the power in the hands -of the General Assembly, and that the Intendant again is far more -liberal and democratic than the middle classes, judging at least by -the report I have quoted in the text, by which it appears that the -_notables_ of another town were desirous of excluding the people even -from the election of municipal officers, a right which the King and the -Intendant had left to them. - -My readers will have observed that the Intendant uses the words -burghers and tradesmen to designate two distinct categories of -notables. It will not be amiss to give an exact definition of these -words, in order to show into how many small fractions the middle -classes were divided, and by how many petty vanities they were agitated. - -The word _burgher_ had a general and a restricted sense; it was used to -designate those belonging to the middle class, and also to specify a -certain number of persons included within that class. ‘The burghers are -those whose birth and fortune enable them to live decently, without the -exercise of any gainful pursuit,’ says one of the reports produced on -occasion of the inquiry in 1764. We see by the rest of the report that -the word burgher was not to be used to designate those who belonged -either to the companies or the industrial corporations; but it is more -difficult to define exactly to whom it should be applied. ‘For,’ the -report goes on to say, ‘amongst those who arrogate to themselves the -title of burgher, there are many persons who have no other claim to -it but their idleness, who have no fortune, and lead an obscure and -uncultivated life. The burghers ought properly to be distinguished by -fortune, birth, talent, morality, and a handsome way of living. The -artisans, who compose the _communautés_, have never been admitted to -the rank of _notables_.’ - -After the burghers, the mercantile men formed a second class, which -belong to no company or corporation; but the limits of this small class -were hard to define. ‘Are,’ says the report, ‘the petty tradesmen of -low birth to be confounded with the great wholesale dealers?’ In order -to resolve these difficulties, the report proposes to have a list of -the _notable_ tradesmen drawn up by the _échevins_, and given to their -head or syndic, in order that he may summon to the deliberations at -the Hôtel de Ville none but those set down in it. In this list none -were to be inscribed who had been servants, porters, drivers, or who -had filled any other mean offices. - - -Note (XX.)--Page 39, line 33. - -One of the most salient characteristics of the eighteenth century, as -regards the administration of the towns, was not so much the abolition -of all representation and intervention of the public in their affairs -as the extreme variation of the rules by which the administration was -guided, rights were incessantly granted, recalled, restored, increased, -diminished, and modified in a thousand different ways. Nothing more -fully shows into what contempt these local liberties had fallen as this -continual change in their laws, which seemed to excite no attention. -This variation alone would have been sufficient to destroy beforehand -all peculiar ideas, all love of old recollections, all local patriotism -in those very institutions which afford the greatest scope for them. -This it was which prepared the way for the great destruction of the -past, which the Revolution was about to effect. - - -Note (XXI.)--Page 41, line 6. - -ADMINISTRATION OF A VILLAGE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. FROM THE PAPERS -OF THE INTENDANCY OF THE ÎLE-DE-FRANCE. - -I have selected the transaction which I am about to describe from -amongst a number of others, in order to give an example of some of the -forms followed by the parochial administration, to show how dilatory -they were, and to give a picture of the General Assembly of a parish -during the eighteenth century. - -The matter in hand was the repairs to be done to the parsonage and -steeple of a rural parish, that of Ivry, in the Île-de-France. The -question was, to whom to apply to get these repairs done, how to -determine on whom the expense should fall, and how to procure the sum -which was needed. - -1. Memorial from the curé to the Intendant, setting forth that the -steeple and the parsonage are in urgent need of repairs; that his -predecessor had added useless buildings to the parsonage, and thus -entirely altered and spoiled it; that the inhabitants, having allowed -this to be done, were bound to bear the expense of restoring it to a -proper condition, and, if they chose, to claim the money from the heirs -of the last curé. - -2. Ordonnance of the Intendant (29th August, 1747), directing that the -syndic shall make it his business to convoke a meeting to deliberate on -the necessity of the operations demanded. - -3. Memorial from the inhabitants, setting forth that they consent to -the repairs of the parsonage but oppose those of the steeple, seeing -that the steeple is built over the chancel, and that the curé, who is -the great-tithe-owner, is liable for the repairs of the chancel. [By a -decree in council of the end of the preceding century (April, 1695) the -person in receipt of the great tithes was bound to repair the chancel, -the parishioners being charged only with keeping up the nave.] - -4. Fresh ordonnance of the Intendant, who, in consequence of the -contradictory statements he has received, sends an architect, the Sieur -Cordier, to inspect and report upon the parsonage and the steeple, to -draw up a statement of the works and to make an inquiry. - -5. _Procès-verbal_ of all these operations, by which it appears that -at the inquiry a certain number of landowners of Ivry appeared before -the commissioner sent by the Intendant, which persons appeared to -be nobles, burghers, and peasants of the place, and inscribed their -declarations for or against the claim set up by the curé. - -7. Fresh ordonnance of the Intendant, to the effect that the statements -drawn up by the architect whom he had sent shall be communicated to the -landowners and inhabitants of the parish at a fresh general meeting to -be convoked by the syndic. - -8. Fresh Parochial Assembly in consequence of this ordonnance, at which -the inhabitants declare that they persist in their declarations. - -9. Ordonnance of the Intendant, who directs, 1st, That the adjudication -of the works set forth in the architect’s statement shall be proceeded -with before his Sub-delegate at Corbeil, in the dwelling of the latter; -and that the said adjudication shall be made in the presence of the -curé, the syndic, and the chief inhabitants of the parish. 2nd, That -inasmuch as delay would be dangerous, the whole sum shall be raised by -a rate on all the inhabitants, leaving those who persist in thinking -that the steeple forms part of the choir, and ought therefore to be -repaired by the large titheowners, to appeal to the ordinary courts of -justice. - -10. Summons issued to all the parties concerned to appear at the -house of the Sub-delegate at Corbeil, where the proclamations and -adjudication are to be made. - -11. Memorial from the curé and several of the inhabitants, requesting -that the expenses of the administrative proceeding should not be -charged, as was usually the case, to the adjudicator, seeing that -the said expenses were very heavy, and would prevent any one from -undertaking the office of adjudicator. - -12. Ordonnance of the Intendant, to the effect that the expenses -incurred in the matter of the adjudication shall be fixed by the -Sub-delegate, and that their amount shall form a portion of the said -adjudication and rate. - -13. Powers given by certain _notable_ inhabitants to the Sieur X. to be -present at the said adjudication, and to assent to it, according to the -statement of the architect. - -14. Certificate of the syndic, to the effect that the usual notices and -advertisements have been published. - -15. _Procès-verbal_ of the adjudication-- - - _liv._ _s._ _d._ - Estimate of repairs 487 0 0 - Expenses of adjudication 237 18 6 - --------------- - 724 18 6 - -16. Lastly, an order in council (23rd July, 1748) authorising the -imposition of a rate to raise the above sum. - -We see that in this procedure the convocation of the Parochial Assembly -was alluded to several times. - -The following _procès-verbal_ of the meeting of one of these assemblies -will show the reader how business was conducted on such occasions:-- - -_Acte notarié._--‘This day, after the parochial mass at the usual and -accustomed place, when the bell had been rung, there appeared at the -Assembly held before the undersigned X., notary at Corbeil, and the -witnesses hereafter named, the Sieur Michaud, vine-dresser, syndic -of the said parish, who presented the ordonnance of the Intendant -permitting the Assembly to be held, caused it to be read, and demanded -that note should be taken of his diligence. - -‘Immediately an inhabitant of the said parish appeared, who stated that -the steeple was above the chancel, and that consequently the repairs -belonged to the curé; there also appeared [here follow the names of -some other persons, who, on the other hand, were willing to admit the -claim of the curé].... Next appeared fifteen peasants, labourers, -masons, and vine-dressers, who declared their adhesion to what the -preceding persons had said. There likewise appeared the Sieur Raimbaud, -vine-grower, who said that he is ready to agree to whatever Monseigneur -the Intendant may decide. There also appeared the Sieur X., doctor of -the Sorbonne, the curé, who persists in the declarations and purposes -of the memorial. Those who appeared demanded that all the above should -be taken down in the Act. Done at the said place of Ivry, in front of -the churchyard of the said parish, in the presence of the undersigned; -and the drawing up of the present report occupied from 11 o’clock in -the morning until 2 o’clock.’ - -We see that this Parochial Assembly was a mere administrative inquiry, -with the forms and the cost of judicial inquiries; that it never -ended in a vote, and consequently in the manifestation of the will of -the parish; that it contained only individual opinions, and had no -influence on the determination of the Government. Indeed we learn from -a number of other documents that the Parochial Assemblies were intended -to assist the decision of the Intendant, and not to hinder it even -where nothing but the interests of the parish were concerned. - -We also find in the same documents that this affair gave rise to three -inquiries: one before the notary, a second before the architect, and -lastly a third, before two notaries, in order to ascertain whether the -parishioners persisted in their previous declarations. - -The rate of 524 liv. 10s., imposed by the decree of the 13th July, -1748, fell upon all the landowners, privileged or otherwise, as was -almost always the case with respect to expenses of this kind; but -the principle on which the shares were apportioned to the various -persons was different. The _taillables_ were taxed in proportion to -their _taille_, and the privileged persons according to their supposed -fortunes, which gave a great advantage to the latter over the former. - -Lastly, we find that on this same occasion the division of the sum of -523 liv. 10s. was made by two collectors, who were inhabitants of the -village; these were not elected, nor did they fill the post by turns, -as was commonly the case, but they were chosen and appointed officially -by the Sub-delegate of the Intendant. - - -Note (XXII.)--Page 46, line 21. - -The pretext taken by Louis XIV. to destroy the municipal liberties of -the towns was the bad administration of their finances. Nevertheless -the same evil, as Turgot truly says, continued and increased since the -reform introduced by that sovereign. Most of the towns, he adds, are -greatly in debt at the present time, partly owing to the sums which -they have lent to the Government, and partly owing to the expenses and -decorations which the municipal officers, who have the disposal of -other people’s money and have no account to render to the inhabitants, -or instructions to receive from them, multiply with a view of -distinguishing and sometimes of enriching themselves. - - -Note (XXIII.)--Page 46, line 32. - -THE STATE WAS THE GUARDIAN OF THE CONVENTS AS WELL AS OF THE -COMMUNES.--EXAMPLE OF THIS GUARDIANSHIP. - -The Comptroller-General, on authorising the Intendant to pay 15,000 -livres to the convent of Carmelites, to which indemnities were owing, -desires the Intendant to assure himself that this money, which -represents a capital, is advantageously re-invested. Analogous facts -were constantly recurring. - - -Note (XXIV.)--Page 50, line 22. - -SHOWING THAT THE ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRALISATION OF THE OLD MONARCHY -COULD BE BEST JUDGED OF IN CANADA. - -The physiognomy of the metropolitan government can be most fully -appreciated in the colonies, because at that distance all its -characteristic features are exaggerated and become more visible. When -we wish to judge of the spirit of the Administration of Louis XIV. -and its vices, it is to Canada we must look. There we shall see the -deformity of the object of our investigation, as through a microscope. - -In Canada a host of obstacles, which anterior circumstances or the -ancient state of society opposed either in secret or openly to the -spirit of the Government, did not exist. The nobility was scarcely seen -there, or, at all events, it had no root in the soil; the Church had -lost its dominant position; feudal traditions were lost or obscured; -judicial authority was no longer rooted in ancient institutions and -manners. There was nothing to hinder the central power from following -its natural bent and from fashioning all the laws according to its own -spirit. In Canada accordingly we find not a trace of any municipal or -provincial institutions; no authorised collective force; no individual -initiative allowed. The Intendant occupied a position infinitely more -preponderant than that of his fellows in France; the Administration -interfered in many more matters than in the metropolis, and chose to -direct everything from Paris, spite of the eighteen hundred leagues by -which they were divided. It adopted none of the great principles by -which a colony is rendered populous and prosperous, but, on the other -hand, it had recourse to all kinds of trifling artificial processes -and petty tyrannical regulations in order to increase and extend the -population; compulsory cultivation, all lawsuits arising out of the -grants of land withdrawn from the tribunals and referred to the sole -decision of the Administration, obligation to pursue particular methods -of cultivation, to settle in certain places rather than others, &c. -All these regulations were in force under Louis XIV., and the edicts -are countersigned by Colbert. One might imagine oneself in the very -thick of modern centralisation and in Algeria. Indeed Canada presents -an exact counterpart of all we have seen in Algeria. In both we find -ourselves face to face with an administration almost as numerous as -the population, preponderant, interfering, regulating, restricting, -insisting upon foreseeing everything, controlling everything, and -understanding the interests of those under its control better than they -do themselves; in short, in a constant state of barren activity. - -In the United States, on the other hand, the decentralisation of the -English is exaggerated; the townships have become nearly independent -municipalities, small democratic republics. The republican element, -which forms the basis of the English constitution and manners, shows -itself in the United States without disguise or hindrance, and becomes -still further developed. The Government, properly so called, does but -little in England, and private persons do a great deal; in America, -the Government really takes no part in affairs, and individuals unite -to do everything. The absence of any higher class, which rendered the -inhabitants of Canada more submissive to the Government than even those -of France at the same period, makes the population of the English -provinces more and more independent of authority. - -Both colonies resulted in the formation of a completely democratic -state of society; but in one, so long at least as Canada still belonged -to France, equality was united with absolutism; in the other it was -combined with liberty. As far as the material consequences of the two -colonial systems were concerned, we know that in 1763, the period of -the Conquest, the population of Canada consisted of 60,000 souls, and -that of the English provinces of 3,000,000. - - -Note (XXV.)--Page 52, line 10. - - ONE EXAMPLE, AMONG MANY, OF THE GENERAL REGULATIONS CONTINUALLY MADE - BY THE COUNCIL OF STATE, WHICH HAD THE FORCE OF LAWS THROUGHOUT - FRANCE, AND CREATED SPECIAL OFFENCES, OF WHICH THE ADMINISTRATIVE - TRIBUNALS WERE THE SOLE JUDGES. - -I take the first which comes to hand: an order in council of the 29th -April, 1779, which directs that throughout the kingdom the breeders and -sellers of sheep shall mark their flocks in a particular manner, under -a penalty of 300 livres. His Majesty, it declares, enjoins upon the -Intendants the duty of enforcing the execution of the present order, -which infers that the Intendant is to pronounce the penalty on its -infraction. Another example: an order in council, 21st December, 1778, -prohibiting the carriers and drivers to warehouse the goods entrusted -to them, under a penalty of 300 livres. His Majesty enjoins upon the -Lieutenant-General of Police and the Intendants to enforce this order. - - -Note (XXVI.)--Page 60, line 39. - -RURAL POLICE. - -The provincial assembly of Upper Guienne urgently demanded the creation -of fresh brigades of the maréchaussée, just as now-a-days the general -council of Aveyron or Lot doubtless requests the formation of fresh -brigades of gendarmerie. The same idea always prevails--the gendarmerie -is the symbol of order, and order can only be sent by Government -through the gendarme. The report continues: ‘Complaints are made -every day that there is no police in the rural districts’ (how should -there be? the nobles took no part in affairs, the burghers were all -in the towns, and the townships, represented by a vulgar peasant, -had no power), ‘and it must be admitted that with the exception of a -few cantons in which just and benevolent seigneurs make use of the -influence which their position gives them over their vassals in order -to prevent those acts of violence to which the country people are -naturally inclined, by the coarseness of their manners and the asperity -of their character, there nowhere exists any means of restraining these -ignorant, rude, and violent men.’ - -Such were the terms in which the nobles of the Provincial Assembly -allowed themselves to be spoken of, and in which the members of the -_Tiers-Etat_, who made up half the assembly, spoke of the people in -public documents! - - -Note (XXVII.)--Page 61, line 24. - -Licences for the sale of tobacco were as much sought for under the old -monarchy as they are now. The greatest people begged for them for their -creatures. I find that some were given on the recommendation of great -ladies, and one at the request of some archbishops. - - -Note (XXVIII.)--Page 62, line 22. - -The extinction of all local public life surpassed all power of belief. -One of the roads from Maine into Normandy was impracticable. Who do -our readers imagine requested to have it repaired? the _généralité_ -of Touraine, which it traversed? the provinces of Normandy or Maine, -so deeply interested in the cattle trade which followed this road? -or even some particular canton especially inconvenienced by its -impassable condition? The _généralité_, the provinces, and the cantons -had no voice in the matter. The dealers who travelled on this road -and stuck fast in the ruts were obliged to call the attention of -the Central Government to its state, and to write to Paris to the -Comptroller-General for assistance. - - -Note (XXIX.)--Page 69, line 8. - -MORE OR LESS IMPORTANCE OF THE SEIGNORIAL DUES OR RENT-CHARGES, -ACCORDING TO THE PROVINCE. - -Turgot says in his works, ‘I ought to point out the fact that these -dues are far more important in most of the rich provinces, such as -Normandy, Picardy, and the environs of Paris. In the last named the -chief wealth consists in the actual produce of the land, which is held -in large farms, from which the owners derive heavy rents. The payments -in respect of the lord’s rights, in the case even of the largest -estates, form but an inconsiderable part of the income arising from -these properties, and such payments are little more than nominal. - -In the poorer provinces, where cultivation is managed on different -principles, the lords and nobles have scarcely any land in their own -hands; properties, which are extremely divided, are charged with heavy -corn-rents, for payment of which all the co-tenants are jointly and -severally liable. These rents, in many instances, absorb the bulk of -the produce, and the lord’s income is almost entirely derived from them. - - -Note (XXX.)--Page 74, line 34. - -INFLUENCE OF SELF-GOVERNMENT UNFAVOURABLE TO CASTE. - -The unimportant labours of the agricultural societies of the eighteenth -century show the adverse influence which the common discussion -of general interests exercised on _caste_. Though the meetings -of these societies date from thirty years before the Revolution, -when the _ancien régime_ was still in full force, and though they -dealt with theories only--by the very fact of their discussions -turning on questions in which the different classes of society felt -themselves interested, and, therefore, took common part in--we may -at once perceive how they brought men together, and how by means of -them--limited as they were to conversations on agriculture--ideas of -reasonable reform spread alike among the privileged and unprivileged -classes. - -I am convinced that no Government could have kept up the absurd and mad -inequality which existed in France at the moment of the Revolution, but -one which, like the Government of the old monarchy, aimed at finding -all its strength in its own ranks, continually recruited by remarkable -men. The slightest contact with _self-government_ would have materially -modified such inequality, and soon transformed or destroyed it. - - -Note (XXXI.)--Page 75, line 3. - -Provincial liberties may exist for a while without national liberty, -when they are ancient, entwined with habits, manners, and early -recollections, and while despotism, on the contrary, is recent. But it -is against reason to suppose that local liberties may be created at -will, or even long maintained, when general liberty is crushed. - - -Note (XXXII.)--Page 75, line 19. - -Turgot, in a report to the King, sums up in the following terms, which -appear to me singularly exact, the real privileges of the noble class -in regard to taxation:-- - -‘1. Persons of the privileged class have a claim to exemption from all -taxation in money to the extent of a four-plough farm, equivalent in -the neighbourhood of Paris to an assessment of 2,000 francs. - -‘2. The same persons are entirely exempt from taxation in respect -of woods, meadows, vineyards, fish-ponds, and for enclosed lands -appurtenant to their castles, whatever their extent. In some cantons -the principal culture is of meadows or vineyards: in these the noble -proprietor escapes from all taxation whatever, the whole weight of -which falls on the tax-paying class; another immense advantage for the -privileged.’ - - -Note (XXXIII.)--Page 76, line 7. - -INDIRECT PRIVILEGES IN RESPECT OF TAXATION: DIFFERENCE IN ASSESSMENT -EVEN WHEN THE TAX IS GENERAL. - -Turgot has given a description of this also, which, judging by the -documents, I have reason to believe exact. - -‘The indirect advantages of the privileged classes in regard to -the poll-tax are very great. The poll-tax is in its very nature -an arbitrary impost; it cannot be distributed among the community -otherwise than at random. It has been found most convenient to assess -it on the tax-collector’s books, which are ready prepared. It is true -that a separate list has been made out for those whose names do not -appear in these books but as they resist payment, while the tax-paying -classes have no organ, the poll-tax paid by the former in the provinces -has gradually dwindled to an insignificant amount, while the poll-tax -on the latter is almost equal in amount to the whole tax-paying -capital.’ - - -Note (XXXIV.)--Page 76, line 14. - -ANOTHER INSTANCE OF INEQUALITY OF ASSESSMENT IN THE CASE OF A GENERAL -TAX. - -It is well known that local rates were general: ‘which sums,’ say the -orders in council authorising the levy of such rates, ‘shall be levied -on all liable, exempt or non-exempt, privileged or non-privileged, -without any exception, together with the poll-tax, or in the -proportion of a mark to every franc payable as poll-tax.’ - -Observe that, as the tax-payer’s poll-tax, assessed according to the -assessment for other taxes, was always higher in comparison than the -poll-tax of the privileged class, inequality re-appeared even under the -form which seemed most to exclude it. - - -Note (XXXV.)--Page 76, line 14. - -ON THE SAME SUBJECT. - -I find in a draft edict of 1764, the aim of which is to equalise -taxation, all sorts of provisions, the object of which is to preserve -exceptional advantages to the privileged classes, in the mode of levy: -among these I find that all steps for the purpose of determining, in -their case, the value of the assessable property, must be taken in -their presence or that of their proxies. - - -Note (XXXVI.)--Page 76, line 27. - -ADMISSION BY THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ADVANTAGES ENJOYED BY THE PRIVILEGED -CLASSES IN THE ASSESSMENT EVEN OF GENERAL TAXES. - -‘I see,’ writes the Minister, in 1766, ‘that the portion of the taxes -most difficult to levy is always that due from the noble and privileged -classes, from the consideration the tax-collectors feel themselves -bound to show such persons; in consequence of which long-standing -arrears of far too great an amount will be found due on their poll-tax -and their “twentieths”’ (the tax which they paid in common with the -rest of the community). - - -Note (XXXVII.)--Page 85, line 7. - -In Arthur Young’s Travels, in 1789, is a little picture in which the -contrast of the systems of the two countries is so well painted, and so -happily introduced, that I cannot resist the temptation of citing it. - -Young, travelling through France during the first excitement caused -by the taking of the Bastille, is arrested in a certain village by a -crowd, who, seeing him without a cockade, wish to put him in prison. -Young contrives to extricate himself by this speech:-- - -‘It has been announced, gentlemen, that the taxes are to be paid as -they have been hitherto. Certainly, the taxes ought to be paid, but -_not_ as they have been hitherto. They ought to be paid as they are -in England. We have many taxes there which you are free from; but the -_Tiers-Etat_--the people--does not pay them: they fall entirely on the -rich. Thus, in England, every window is taxed; but the man with only -six windows to his house does not pay anything for them. A nobleman -pays his twentieths[140] and his King’s-taxes, but the poor proprietor -pays nothing on his little garden. The rich man pays for his horses, -carriages and servants--he pays even for a licence to shoot his own -partridges; the poor man is free from all these burdens. Nay, more, in -England we have a tax paid by the rich to help the poor! So that, I -say, if taxes are still to be paid, they should be paid differently. -The English plan is far the better one.’ - -‘As my bad French,’ adds Young, ‘was much on a par with their patois, -they understood me perfectly.’ - - -Note (XXXVIII.)--Page 86, line 24. - -The church at X., in the electoral district of Chollet, was going to -ruin: it was to be repaired in the manner provided by the order of 1684 -(16th December), viz., by a rate levied on all the inhabitants. When -the collectors came to levy this rate, the Marquis de X., seigneur of -the parish, refused to pay his proportion of the rate, as he meant to -take on himself the entire repair of the chancel; the other inhabitants -reply, very reasonably, that as lord of the manor and holder of the -great tithes, he is _bound_ to repair the chancel, and cannot, on the -plea of this obligation, claim to escape his proportion of the common -rate. This produces an order of the Intendant declaring the Marquis’s -liability, and authorising the collector’s proceedings. Among the -papers on the subject are more than ten letters from the Marquis, one -more urgent than the other, begging hard that the rest of the parish -may pay instead of himself, and, to obtain his prayer, stooping to -address the Intendant as ‘Monseigneur,’ and even ‘_le supplier_.’ - - -Note (XXXIX.)--Page 87, line 35. - - AN INSTANCE OF THE WAY IN WHICH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE OLD MONARCHY - RESPECTED VESTED RIGHTS, FORMAL CONTRACTS, AND THE FRANCHISES OF - TOWNS OR CORPORATIONS. - -A royal declaration ‘suspending in time of war repayment of all loans -contracted by towns, villages, colleges, communities, hospitals, -charitable houses, trade-corporations,[141] and others, repayable out -of town dues by us conceded, though the instrument securing the said -loans stipulates for the payment of interest in the case of non-payment -at the stipulated terms.’ - -Thus not only is the obligation to repayment at the stipulated terms -suspended, but the security itself is impaired. Such proceedings, which -abounded under the old monarchy, would have been impracticable under -a Government acting under the check of publicity or representative -assemblies. Compare the above with the respect always shown for such -rights in England, and even in America. The contempt of right in this -instance is as flagrant as that of local franchises. - - -Note (XL.)--Page 89, line 21. - -The case cited in the text is far from a solitary instance of an -admission by the privileged class that the feudal burdens which weighed -down the peasant reached even to themselves. The following is the -language of an agricultural society, exclusively composed of this -class, thirty years before the Revolution:-- - -‘Perpetual rent-charges, whether due to the State or to the lord, if -at all considerable in amount, become so burdensome to the tenant that -they cause first his ruin, and then that of the land liable to them; -the tenant is forced to neglect it, being neither able to borrow on -the security of an estate already too heavily burdened, nor to find -purchasers if he wish to sell. If then payments were commutable, the -tenant would readily be able to raise the means of commuting them by -borrowing, or to find purchasers at a price that would cover the value -both of the land and the payments with which it might be charged. A -man always feels pleasure in keeping up and improving a property of -which he believes himself to be in peaceable possession. It would -be rendering a great service to agriculture to discover means of -commutation for this class of payments. Many lords of manors, convinced -of this, would readily give their aid to such arrangements. It would, -therefore, be very interesting to discover and point out practicable -means for thus ridding land from permanent burdens.’ - - -Note (XLI.)--Page 90, line 38. - -All public functionaries, even the agents of farmers of the revenue, -were paid by exemptions from taxes--a privilege granted by the order of -1681. A letter from an Intendant to the minister in 1782 states, ‘Among -the privileged orders the most numerous class is that of clerks in the -Excise of salt, the public domain, the post-office, and other royal -monopolies of all kinds. There are few parishes which do not include -one; in many, two or three may be found.’ - -The object of this letter is to dissuade the minister from proposing -an extension of exemption from taxation to the clerks and servants -of these privileged agents; which extension, says the Intendant, is -unceasingly backed by the Farmers-General, that they may thus get rid -of the necessity of paying salaries. - - -Note (XLII.)--Page 91, line 1. - -The sale of public employments, which were called _offices_, was -not quite unknown elsewhere. In Germany some of the petty princes -had introduced the practice to a small extent and in insignificant -departments of administration. Nowhere but in France was the system -followed out on a grand scale. - - -Note (XLIII.)--Page 95, line 17. - -We must not be surprised, strange as it may appear and is, to find, -under the old monarchy, public functionaries--many of them belonging to -the public service, properly so called--pleading before the Parliaments -to ascertain the limits of their own powers. The explanation of this -is to be found in the fact that all these questions were questions of -private property as well as of public administration. What is here -viewed as an encroachment of the judicial power was a mere consequence -of the error which the Government had committed in attaching public -functions to certain offices. These offices being bought and sold, and -their holders’ income being regulated by the work done and paid for, it -was impossible to change the functions of an office without impairing -some right for which money had been paid to a predecessor in the office. - -To quote an instance out of a thousand:--At Mans the Lieutenant-General -of Police carries on a prolonged suit with the _Bureau de Finance_ -of the town, to prove, that being charged with the duty of -street-watching, he has a right to execute all legal instruments -relative to the paving of the streets, and to the fees for such -instruments. - -The _Bureau_ replies, that the paving is a duty thrown upon him by the -nature of his office. - -The question in this case is not decided by the king in council; the -parliament gives judgment, as the principal matter in dispute is the -interest of the capital devoted to the purchase of the office. The -administrative question becomes a civil action. - - -Note (XLIV.)--Page 96, line 23. - -ANALYSIS OF THE INSTRUCTIONS OF THE ORDER OF NOBILITY IN 1789. - -The French Revolution is, I believe, the only one, at the beginning -of which the different classes were able separately to bear authentic -witness to the ideas they had conceived, and to display the sentiments -by which they were moved before the Revolution had altered and defaced -these ideas and feelings. This authentic testimony was recorded, as -we all know, in the _cahiers_ drawn up by the three Orders in 1789. -These _cahiers_, or Instructions, were drawn up under circumstances of -complete freedom and publicity, by each of the Orders concerned; they -underwent a long discussion from those interested, and were carefully -considered by their authors; for the Government of that period did not, -whenever it addressed the nation, undertake both to put the question -and to give the answer. At the time when the Instructions were drawn -up, the most important parts of them were collected in three printed -volumes, which are to be found in every library. The originals are -deposited in the national archives, and with them the _procès-verbaux_ -of the assemblies by which they were drawn up, together with a part of -the correspondence which passed between M. Necker and his agents on the -subject of these assemblies. This collection forms a long series of -folio volumes. It is the most precious document that remains to us from -ancient France, and one which should be constantly consulted by those -who wish to know the state of feeling amongst our forefathers at the -time when the Revolution broke out. - -I at first imagined that the abridgment printed in three volumes, which -I mentioned above, might perhaps be the work of one party, and not a -true representation of the character of this immense inquiry; but on -comparing one with the other, I found the strongest resemblance between -the large original picture and the reduced copy. - -The extract from the _cahiers_ of the nobility, which I am about to -give, contains a true picture of the sentiments of the great majority -of that Order. It clearly shows how many of their ancient privileges -they were obstinately determined to maintain, how many they were not -disinclined to give up, and how many they offered to renounce of their -own accord. Above all, we see in full the spirit which animated them -with regard to political liberty. The picture is a strange and sad one! - -_Individual Rights._--The nobles demand, first of all, that an explicit -declaration should be made of the rights which belong to all men, and -that this declaration should confirm their liberties and secure their -safety. - -_Liberty of the Person._--They desire that the servitude to the glebe -should be abolished wherever it still exists, and that means should be -formed to destroy the slave trade and to emancipate the negroes; that -every man should be free to travel or to reside wherever he may please, -whether within or without the limits of the kingdom, without being -liable to arbitrary arrest; that the abuses of police regulations shall -be reformed, and that henceforth the police shall be under the control -of the judges, even in cases of revolt; that no one shall be liable to -be arrested or tried except by his natural judges; that, consequently, -the state prisons and other illegal places of detention shall be -suppressed. Some of them require the demolition of the Bastille. The -nobility of Paris is especially urgent upon this point. - -_Are ‘Lettres Closes,’ or ‘Lettres de Cachet,’ to be prohibited?_--If -any danger of the State renders the arrest of a citizen necessary, -without his being immediately brought before the ordinary courts of -justice, measures should be taken to prevent any abuses, either by -giving notice of the imprisonment to the _Conseil d’État_, or by some -other proceeding. - -The nobility demands the abolition of all special commissions, all -courts of attribution or exemption, all privileges of _committimus_, -all dilatory judgments, &c., &c., and requires that the severest -punishment should be awarded to all those who should issue or execute -an arbitrary order; that in common jurisdiction (the only one that -ought to be maintained) the necessary measures should be taken for -securing individual liberty, especially as regards the criminal; -that justice should be dispensed gratuitously; and that useless -jurisdictions should be suppressed. ‘The magistrates are instituted -for the people, and not the people for the magistrates,’ says one of -the memorials. A demand is even made that a council and gratuitous -advocates for the poor should be established in each bailiwick; -that the proceedings should be public, and permission granted to -the litigants to plead for themselves; that in criminal matters the -prisoner should be provided with counsel, and that in all stages of -the proceedings the judge should have adjoined to him a certain number -of citizens, of the same position in life as the person accused, who -are to give their opinion relative to the fact of the crime or offence -with which he is charged (referring on this point to the English -constitution); that all punishments should be proportionate to the -offence, and alike for all; that the punishment of death should be -made more uncommon, and all corporal pains and tortures, &c., should -be suppressed; that, in fine, the condition of the prisoner, and more -especially of the simply accused, should be ameliorated. - -According to these memorials, measures should be taken to protect -individual liberty in the enlistment of troops for land or sea -service; permission should be given to convert the obligation of -military service into pecuniary contributions. The drawing of lots -should only take place in the presence of a deputation of the three -Orders together; in fact, that the duties of military discipline and -subordination should be made to tally with the rights of the citizen -and freemen, blows with the back of the sabre being altogether done -away with. - -_Freedom and Inviolability of Property._--It is required that property -should be inviolable, and placed beyond all attack, except for some -reason of indispensable public utility; in which case the Government -ought to give a considerable and immediate indemnity: that confiscation -should be abolished. - -_Freedom of Trade, Handicraft and Industrial Occupation._--The freedom -of trade and industry ought to be secured; and, in consequence, -freedoms and other privileges of certain companies should be -suppressed, and the custom-house lines all put back to the frontiers of -the country. - -_Freedom of Religion._--The Catholic religion is to be the only -dominant religion in France; but liberty of conscience is to be left -to everybody: and the non-Catholics are to be restored to their civil -rights and their property. - -_Freedom of the Press.--Inviolability of the Secrecy of the Post._--The -freedom of the press is to be secured, and a law is to establish -beforehand all the restrictions which may be considered necessary in -the general interest. Ecclesiastical censorship to exist only for books -relative to the dogmas of the Church; and in all other cases it is -considered sufficient to take the necessary precautions of knowing the -authors and printers. Many of the memorials demand that offences of the -press should only be tried by juries. - -The memorials unanimously demand above all that the secrecy of letters -entrusted to the post should be inviolably respected, so that (as they -say) letters may never be made to serve as means of accusation or -testimony against a man. They denounce the opening of letters, crudely -enough, as the most odious espionage, inasmuch as it institutes a -violation of public faith. - -_Instruction, Education._--The memorials of the nobility on this point -require no more than that active measures should be taken to foster -education, that it should be diffused throughout the country, and that -it should be directed upon principles conformable to the presumed -destination of the children; and, above all, that a national education -should be given to the children, by teaching them their duties and -their rights of citizenship. They urge the compilation of a political -catechism, in which the principal points of the constitution should be -made clear to them. They do not, however, point out the means to be -employed for the diffusion of instruction: they do no more than demand -educational establishments for the children of the indigent nobility. - -_Care to be taken of the People._--A great number of the memorials lay -much stress upon greater regard being shown to the people. Several -denounce, as a violation of the natural liberty of man, the excesses -committed in the name of the police, by which, as they say, quantities -of artisans and useful citizens are arbitrarily, and without any -regular examination, dragged to prison, to houses of detention, &c., -frequently for slight offences, or even upon simple suspicion. All -the memorials demand the definitive abolition of statute labour. The -greater portion of the bailiwicks desire the permission to buy off the -vassalage and toll-dues; and several require that the receipt of many -of the feudal dues should be rendered less onerous, and that those -paid upon _franc-fief_ should be abolished. ‘It is to the advantage -of the Government,’ says one of the memorials, ‘to facilitate the -purchase and sale of estates.’ This reason was precisely the one given -afterwards for the abolition at one blow of all the seignorial rights, -and for the sale of property in the condition of _mainmorte_. Many of -the memorials desire that the _droit de colombier_ (exclusive right of -keeping pigeons) should be rendered less prejudicial to agriculture. -Demands are made for the immediate abolition of the establishments used -as royal game-preserves, and known by the name of ‘_capitaineries_,’ as -a violation of the rights of property. The substitution of taxes less -onerous to the people in the mode of levying for those then existing is -also desired. - -The nobility demand that efforts should be made to increase the -prosperity and comfort of the country districts; that establishments -for spinning and weaving coarse stuffs should be provided for the -occupation of the country people during the dead season of the year; -that public granaries should be established in each bailiwick, under -the inspection of the provincial authorities, in order to provide -against times of famine, and to maintain the price of corn at a certain -rate; that means should be studied to improve the agriculture of the -country, and ameliorate the condition of the country people; that an -augmentation should be given to the public works; and that particular -attention should be paid to the draining of marsh lands, the prevention -of inundations, &c.; and finally, that the prizes of encouragement to -commerce and agriculture should be distributed in all the provinces. - -The memorials express the desire that the hospitals should be broken -up into smaller establishments, erected in each district; that the -asylums for beggars (_dépôts de mendicité_) should be suppressed, and -replaced by charitable workhouses (_ateliers de charité_); that funds -for the aid of the sick and needy should be established under the -management of the Provincial States, and that surgeons, physicians, -and midwives should be distributed among the _arrondissements_ at the -expense of the provinces, to give their gratuitous services to the -poor; that the courts of justice should likewise be gratuitous to the -people; finally, that care should be taken for the establishment of -institutions for the blind, the deaf and dumb, foundling children, &c. - -Generally speaking, in all these matters the order of nobles does no -more than express its desire for reform, without entering into any -minor details of execution. It may be easily seen that it mixed much -less with the inferior classes than the lower order of clergy; and -thus, having come less in contact with their wretchedness, had thought -less of the means for mitigating it. - -_Admissibility to Public Functions; Hierarchy of Ranks; Honorary -Privileges of the Nobility._--It is more especially, or rather it is -solely, upon the points that concern the hierarchy of ranks and the -difference of social classes, that the nobility separates itself from -the general spirit of the reforms required, and that, though willing to -concede some few important points, it still clings to the principles -of the old system. It evidently is aware that it is now struggling for -its very existence. Its memorials, consequently, urgently demanded -the maintenance of the clergy and the nobility as distinct orders. -They even require that efforts should be made to maintain the order -of nobility in all its purity, and that to this intent it should be -rendered impossible to acquire the title of noble by payment of money; -that it should no longer be attached to certain places about Court, -and that it should only be obtained by merit, after long and useful -services rendered to the State. They express the desire that men -assuming false titles of nobility should be found out and prosecuted. -All these memorials, in fact, make urgent protestations in favour of -the maintenance of the noble in all his honours. Some even desire -that a distinctive mark should be given to the nobles to ensure their -exterior recognition. It is impossible to imagine anything more -characteristic than this demand, or more indicative of the perfect -similitude that must have already existed between the noble and the -plebeian in spite of the difference of their social conditions. In -general, in its memorials, the nobility, although it appears easily -disposed enough to concede many of its more profitable rights, clings -energetically to its honorary privileges. So greatly does it feel -itself already hurried on by the torrent of democracy, and fear to sink -in the stream, that it not only wants to preserve all the privileges it -already enjoys, but is desirous of inventing others it never possessed. -It is singular to remark how it has a presentiment of the impending -danger without the actual perception of it. - -With regard to public employments, the nobles require that the venality -of offices should be done away with in all places connected with the -magistracy, and that, in appointments of this kind, the citizens in -general should be presented by the nation to the king, and nominated by -him without any distinction, except as regards conditions of age and -capacity. The majority also opines that the _Tiers-État_ should not -be excluded from military rank, and that every military man, who had -deserved well of his country, should have the right to rise to the very -highest grade. ‘The order of nobility does not approve of any law that -closes the portals of military rank to the order of the _Tiers-État_,’ -is the expression used by some of the memorials. But the nobles -desire that the right of coming into a regiment as officer, without -having first gone through the inferior grades, should be reserved -to themselves alone. Almost all the Instructions, however, require -the establishment of fixed regulations, applicable alike to all, for -the bestowal of rank in the army, and demand that they should not be -entirely left to favour, but be conferred, with the exception of those -of superior officers, by right of seniority. - -As regards the clerical functions, they require the re-establishment -of the elective system in the bestowal of benefices, or at least the -appointment by the King of a committee that may enlighten him in the -distribution of these benefices. - -Lastly, they express the opinion that, for the future, pensions ought -to be given away with more discernment; that they ought no longer to -be exclusively lavished upon certain families; that no citizen ought -to have more than one pension, or receive the salary of more than one -place at a time, and that all reversions of such emoluments should be -abolished. - -_The Church and the Clergy._--In matters which do not affect its -own interests and especial constitution, the nobility is far less -scrupulous. In all that regards the privileges and organisation of the -Church, its eyes are opened wide enough to existing abuses. - -It desires that the clergy should have no privileges in matters of -taxation, and that it should pay its debts without putting the burden -of them on the nation: moreover, that the monastic orders should -undergo a complete reformation. The greater part of the Instructions -declare that these monastic establishments have wholly departed from -the original spirit of their institution. - -The majority of the bailiwicks express their desire that the tithes -should be made less prejudicial to agriculture; many demand their -abolition altogether. ‘The greater part of the tithes,’ says one of the -memorials, ‘is collected by those incumbents who do the least towards -giving spiritual succour to the people.’ It is easy to perceive, -that the latter order has not much forbearance for the former in -its remarks. No greater respect was shown in its treatment of the -Church itself. Several bailiwicks formally admit the right of the -States-General to suppress certain religious orders, and apply their -revenues to some other use. Seventeen bailiwicks declare the competence -of the States-General to regulate their discipline. Several complain -that the holidays (_jours de fête_) are too frequent, are prejudicial -to agriculture, and are favourable to drunkenness, and suggest that, -in consequence, a great number of them ought to be suppressed and kept -only on the Sundays. - -_Political Rights._--As regards political rights, the Instructions -establish the right of every Frenchman to take his part in the -government, either directly or indirectly; that is to say, the right -to elect or be elected, but without disturbing the gradation of social -ranks; so that no one may nominate or be nominated otherwise than in -his own Order. This principle once established, it is considered that -the representative system ought to be established in such wise, that -the power of taking a serious part in the direction of affairs may be -guaranteed to each Order of the nation. - -With regard to the manner of voting in the Assembly of the -States-General the opinions differ. Most desire a separate vote for -each Order; others think that an exception ought to be made to this -rule in the votes upon taxation; whilst others again consider that it -should always be so. ‘The votes ought to be counted by individuals and -not by Orders,’ say the latter. ‘Such a manner of proceeding being -the only sensible one, and the only one tending to remove and destroy -that egotism of caste, which is the source of all our evils--to bring -men together and lead them to that result, which the nation has the -right to expect from an Assembly, whose patriotism and great moral -qualities should be strengthened by its united intelligence.’ As an -immediate adoption of this innovation, however, might prove dangerous -in the existing state of general feeling, many of the Instructions -provide that it should be only decided upon with caution, and that the -assembly had better decide whether it were not more prudent to put -off the system of individual voting to the following States-General. -The nobility demands that, in any case, each Order should be allowed -to preserve that dignity which is due to every Frenchman, and -consequently that the humiliating ceremonies, to which the _Tiers-État_ -was subjected under the old system, should be abolished, as, for -instance, that of being obliged to kneel--‘inasmuch,’ says one of -these documents, ‘as the spectacle of one man kneeling before another -is offensive to the dignity of man, and emblematic of an inferiority -between creatures equal by nature, incompatible with their essential -rights.’ - -_The System to be established in the Form of Government, and the -Principles of the Constitution._--With regard to the form of -government, the nobility desired the maintenance of the monarchical -constitution, the preservation of the legislative, judicial, and -executive powers in the person of the King, but, at the same time, the -establishment of fundamental laws for the purpose of guaranteeing the -rights of the nation in the exercise of these powers. - -All the Instructions, consequently, declare that the nation has the -right to assemble in States-General, composed of a sufficient number -of members to ensure the independence of the Assembly; and they -express the desire that, for the future, these States should assemble -at fixed periodical seasons, as well as upon every fresh succession -to the throne, without the issue of any writs of convocation. Many of -the bailiwicks even advise the permanence of this Assembly. If the -convocation of the States-General were not to take place within the -period prescribed by the law, they should have the right of refusing -the payment of taxes. Some few of the Instructions desire that, during -the intervals between the sittings of the States, an intermediary -commission should be appointed to watch over the administration of -the kingdom; but most of them formally oppose the appointment of any -such commission, as being unconstitutional. The reason given for this -objection is curious enough. They feared lest so small an Assembly, -left to itself in the presence of the Government, might be seduced by -it. - -The nobility desires that the Ministers should not possess the right of -dissolving the Assembly, and should be punished by law for disturbing -it by their cabals; that no public functionary, no one dependent in -any way upon the Government, should be a deputy; that the person of -the deputies should be inviolable, and that they should not be able -(according to the terms of the memorials) to be prosecuted for any -opinions they may emit; finally, that the sittings of the Assembly -should be public, and that, in order that the nation might more -generally take part in them, they should be made known by printed -reports. - -The nobility unanimously demands that the principles destined to -regulate the government of the State should be applied to the -administration of the different parts of the kingdom, and that, -consequently, Assemblies made up of members freely elected, and for -a limited period of time, should be formed in each district and each -parish. - -Many of the Instructions recommend that the functions of _Intendants_ -and _Receveurs-Généraux_ ought to be done away with; all are of opinion -that, in future, the Provincial Assemblies should alone take in hand -the assessment of the taxes, and see to the special interests of the -province. The same ought to be the case, they consider, with the -Assemblies of each _arrondissement_ and of each parish, which ought -only to be accountable for the future to the Provincial States. - -_Distribution of the Powers of State.--Legislative Power._--As -regards the distribution of the powers of the State between the -assembled nation and the King, the nobility requires that no law -should be considered effective until it has been consented to by the -States-General and the King and entered upon the registers of the -courts empowered to maintain the execution of the laws; that the -States-General should have the exclusive attribute of determining and -fixing the amount of the taxes; that all subsidies agreed upon should -be only for the period that may elapse between one sitting of the -States and the next; that all which may be levied or ordained, without -the consent of the States, should be declared illegal, and that all -ministers and receivers of such subsidies, who may have ordered or -levied them, should be prosecuted as public defaulters; that, in the -same way, no loan should be contracted without the consent of the -States-General, but that a credit alone should be opened, fixed by the -States, of which the Government might make use in case of war or any -great calamity, taking care, however, that measures should be taken to -convoke the States-General in the shortest possible time; that all the -national treasuries should be placed under the superintendence of the -States; that the expenses of each department should be fixed by them; -and that the surest measures should be taken to see that the funds -voted were not exceeded. - -The greater part of the Instructions recommend the suppression of -those vexatious taxes, known under the names of _insinuation_, -_entérinement_, and _centième denier_, coming under the denomination of -‘Administration (_Régie_) of the Royal domains,’ upon the subject of -which one of the memorials says: ‘The denomination of _Régie_ is alone -sufficient to wound the feelings of the nation, inasmuch as it puts -forward, as belonging to the King, matters which are in reality a part -of the property of the citizens;’ that all the domains, not alienated, -should be placed under the administration of the Provincial States, and -no ordinance, no edict upon financial matters, should be given without -the consent of the three Orders of the nation. - -It is evidently the intention of the nobility to confer upon the nation -the whole of the financial administration, as well in the regulation -of loans and taxes, as in the receipt of the same by the means of the -General and Provincial Assemblies. - -_Judicial Power._--In the same way, in the judicial organisation, it -has a tendency towards rendering the power of the judges, at least in -a great measure, dependent upon the nation assembled. And thus many -of the memorials declare ‘that the magistrates should be responsible -for the fact of their appointments to the nation assembled;’ that they -should not be dismissed from their functions without the consent of the -States-General; that no court of justice, under any pretext whatever, -should be disturbed in the exercise of its functions without the -consent of these States; that the disputed matters in the Appeal Court, -as well as those before the Parliament, should be decided upon by the -States-General. The majority of the Instructions add that the judges -ought only to be nominated by the King, upon presentation to him by the -people. - -_Executive Power._--The executive power is exclusively reserved to the -King; but necessary limits are proposed, in order to prevent its abuse. - -For instance, in the administration, the Instructions require that the -state of the accounts of the different departments should be rendered -public by being printed; likewise, that before employing the troops in -the defence of the country from without, the King should make known his -precise intention to the States-General; that, in the country itself, -the troops should never be employed against the citizens, except upon -the requisition of the States-General; that the number of the troops -should be limited, and that two-thirds of them alone should remain, in -common times, upon the second effective list; and that the Government -ought to keep away all the foreign troops it may have in its pay from -the centre of the kingdom, and send them to the frontiers. - -In perusing the Instructions of the nobility, the reader cannot fail -to be struck, more than all, with the conviction that the nobles are -so essentially of their own time. They have all the feelings of the -day, and employ its language with perfect fluency; they talk of ‘the -inalienable rights of man’ and ‘the principles inherent to the social -compact.’ In matters appertaining to the individual, they generally -look to his rights--in those appertaining to society, to its duties. -The principles of their political opinions appear to them _as absolute -as those of morality, both one and the other being based upon reason_. -In expressing their desire to abolish the last remnants of serfdom, -they talk of _effacing the last traces of the degradation of the -human race_. They sometimes denominate Louis XVI. the ‘Citizen-King,’ -and frequently speak of that crime of _lèse-nation_ (treason to the -nation), which afterwards was so frequently imputed to themselves. -In their opinion, as in that of every one else, everything was to be -expected from the results of public education, which the States were to -direct. ‘_The States-General_,’ says one of the _Cahiers_, ‘_must take -care to inspire a national character by alterations in the education of -children_.’ Like the rest of their contemporaries, they show a lively -and constant desire for uniformity in the legislation, excepting, -however, in all that affected the existence of ranks. They are as -desirous as the _Tiers-État_ of administrative uniformity--uniformity -of measures, &c. They point out all kinds of reforms, and expect that -these reforms should be radical. According to their suggestions, all -the taxes, without exception, should be abolished or transferred, and -the whole judicial system changed, except in the case of the Seignorial -Courts of Justice, which they considered only to need improvement. -They, as well as all the other French, looked upon France as a field -for experiment--a sort of political model-farm, in which every portion -was to be turned up and every experiment tried, except in one special -little corner, where their own privileges blossomed. It must be said to -their honour, however, that even this was but little spared by them. In -short, as may be seen by reading their memorials, all the nobles wanted -in order to make the Revolution was that they should be plebeians. - - -Note (XLV.)--Page 97, line 2. - -SPECIMEN OF THE RELIGIOUS GOVERNMENT OF AN ECCLESIASTICAL PROVINCE IN -THE MIDDLE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. - -1. The Archbishop. - -2. Seven Vicars-General. - -3. Two Ecclesiastical Courts, denominated _Officialités_. One, called -the Metropolitan _Officialité_, took cognisance of the judgments of the -suffragans. The other, called the _Officialité_ of the Diocess, took -cognisance (1) of personal affairs between clerical men; (2) of the -validity of marriages, as regarded the performance of the ceremony. - -This latter court was composed of three judges, to whom were adjoined -notaries and attorneys. - -4. Two Fiscal Courts. The one, called the office of the Diocess -(_Bureau Diocésain_), took cognisance, in the first instance, of all -matters having reference to the dues levied on the clergy of the -diocess. (As is well known, they were fixed by the clergy themselves.) -This court was presided over by the Archbishop, and made up of six -other priests. The other court gave judgment in appeals on causes, -which had been brought before the other _Bureaux Diocésains_, of the -ecclesiastical province. - -All these courts admitted counsel and heard pleadings. - - -Note (XLVI.)--Page 97, line 10. - -GENERAL FEELING OF THE CLERGY IN THE STATES AND PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLIES. - -What has been said in the text respecting the States of Languedoc is -applicable just as well to the Provincial Assemblies that met in 1779 -and 1787, for instance, in Haute-Guienne. The members of the clergy, -in this Provincial Assembly, were among the most enlightened, the most -active, and the most liberal. It was the Bishop of Rhodez who proposed -to publish the minutes of the Assembly. - - -Note (XLVII.)--Page 98, line 26. - -This liberal disposition on the part of the priests in political -matters, which displayed itself in 1789, was not only produced by the -excitement of the moment, evidence of it had already appeared at a much -earlier period. It exhibited itself, for instance, in the province -of Berri as early as 1779, when the clergy offered to make voluntary -donations to the amount of 68,000 livres, upon the sole condition that -the provincial administration should be preserved. - - -Note (XLVIII.)--Page 100, line 11. - -It must be carefully remarked that, if the political conditions of -society were without any ties, the civil state of society still had -many. Within the circle of the different classes men were bound to -each other; something even still remained of that close tie which had -once existed between the class of the _Seigneurs_ and the people; and -although all this only existed in civil society, its consequence was -indirectly felt in political society. The men, bound by these ties, -formed masses that were irregular and unorganised, but refractory -beneath the hand of authority. The Revolution, by breaking all social -ties, without establishing any political ties in their place, prepared -the way at the same time for equality and servitude. - - -Note (XLIX.)--Page 101, line 5. - -EXAMPLE OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE COURTS EXPRESSED THEMSELVES UPON THE -OCCASION OF CERTAIN ARBITRARY ACTS. - -It appears, from a memorial laid before the _Contrôleur-Général_ in -1781, by the _Intendant_ of the _Généralité_ of Paris, that it was one -of the customs of that _Généralité_ that the parishes should have two -syndics--the one elected by the inhabitants in an Assembly presided -over by the _Subdélégué_, the other chosen by the _Intendant_, and -considered the overseer of the former. A quarrel took place between the -two syndics in the parish of Rueil, the elected syndic not choosing to -obey the chosen syndic. The _Intendant_, by means of M. de Breteuil, -had the elected syndic put into the prison of La Force for a fortnight; -he was arrested, then dismissed from his post, and another was put -in his place. Thereupon the Parliament, upon the requisition of the -imprisoned syndic, commenced proceedings at law, the issue of which -I have not been able to find, but during which it declared that the -imprisonment of the plaintiff and the nullification of his election -could only be considered as _arbitrary and despotic acts_. The judicial -authorities, it seems, were then sometimes rather hard in the mouth. - - -Note (L.)--Page 103, line 30. - -So far from being the case that the enlightened and wealthy classes -were oppressed and enslaved under the _ancien régime_, it may be said, -on the contrary, that all, including the _bourgeoisie_, were frequently -far too free to do all they liked; since the Royal authority did not -dare to prevent members of these classes from constantly creating -themselves an exceptional position, to the detriment of the people; and -almost always considered it necessary to sacrifice the latter to them, -in order to obtain their good will, or put a stop to their ill humour. -It may be said that, in the eighteenth century, a Frenchman belonging -to these classes could more easily resist the Government, and force it -to use conciliatory measures with him, than an Englishman of the same -position in life could have done at that time. The authorities often -considered themselves obliged to use towards such a man a far more -temporising and timid policy than the English Government would ever -have thought itself bound to employ towards an English subject in the -same category--so wrong is it to confound independence with liberty. -Nothing is less independent than a free citizen. - - -Note (LI.)--Page 103, line 37. - -REASON THAT FREQUENTLY OBLIGED THE ABSOLUTE GOVERNMENT IN THE ANCIENT -STATE OF SOCIETY TO RESTRAIN ITSELF. - -In ordinary times the augmentation of old taxes, and more especially -the imposition of new taxes, are the only subjects likely to cause -trouble to a Government, or excite a people. Under the old financial -constitution of Europe, when any Prince had expensive desires, or -plunged into an adventurous line of policy, or allowed his finances -to become disordered, or (to take another instance) needed money for -the purpose of sustaining himself by winning partisans by means of -enormous gains or heavy salaries that they had never earned, or by -keeping up numerous armies, by undertaking great public works, &c. -&c., he was obliged at once to have recourse to taxation; a proceeding -that immediately roused and excited every class, especially that -class which creates revolutions--the people. Nowadays, in similar -positions, loans are contracted, the immediate effect of which passes -almost unperceived, and the final result of which is only felt by the -succeeding generation. - - -Note (LII.)--Page 105, line 29. - -As one example, among many others, the fact may be cited, that the -principal domains in the jurisdiction of Mayenne were farmed out to -_Fermiers-Généraux_, who took as _Sous-Fermiers_ little miserable -tillers of land, who had nothing of their own, and for whom they -were obliged to furnish the most necessary farming utensils. It may -be well conceived that _Fermiers-Généraux_ of this kind had no great -consideration for the farmers or due-paying tenants of the old feudal -_Seigneur_, who had put them in his place, and that the exercise of -feudalism in such hands as these was often more hard to bear than in -the Middle Ages. - - -Note (LIII.)--Page 105, line 29. - -ANOTHER EXAMPLE. - -The inhabitants of Mantbazon had put upon the _taille_ the Stewards of -the Duchy, which was in possession of the Price de Rohan, although -these Stewards only farmed in his name. This Prince (who must have been -extremely wealthy) not only caused this ‘abuse,’ as he termed it, to be -put a stop to, but obtained the reimbursement of 5344 livres 15 sous, -which he had been improperly made to pay, and which was charged upon -the inhabitants. - - -Note (LIV.)--Page 108, line 7. - - EXAMPLE OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PECUNIARY CLAIMS OF THE CLERGY - ALIENATED FROM THEM THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHOSE ISOLATED POSITION - OUGHT TO HAVE CONCILIATED THEM. - -The Curé of Noisai asserted that the inhabitants were obliged to -undertake the repairs of his barn and wine-press, and asked for the -imposition of a local tax for that purpose. The _Intendant_ gave answer -that the inhabitants were only obliged to repair the parsonage-house, -and that the barn and wine-press were to be at the expense of this -pastor, who was evidently more busied about the affairs of his farm -than his spiritual flock (1767). - - -Note (LV.)--Page 110, line 4. - -In one of the memorials sent up in 1788 by the peasants--a memorial -written with much clearness and in a moderate tone, in answer to an -inquiry instituted by a Provincial Assembly--the following passages -occur:--‘In addition to the abuses occasioned by the mode of levying -the _taille_, there exists that of the _garnissaires_. These men -generally arrive five times during the collection of the _taille_. -They are commonly _invalides_, or Swiss soldiers. They remain every -time four or five days in the parish, and are taxed at 36 sous a day -by the tax-receipt office. As to the assessment of the _taille_, -we will forbear to point out the too well-known abuses occasioned -by the arbitrary measures employed and the bad effects produced by -the officious parts played by officers who are frequently incapable -and almost always partial and vindictive. They have been the cause, -however, of many disturbances and quarrels, and have occasioned -proceedings at law, extremely expensive for the parties pleading, and -very advantageous to the courts.’ - - -Note (LVI.)--Page 110, line 39. - - THE SUPERIORITY OF THE METHODS ADOPTED IN THE PROVINCES POSSESSING - ASSEMBLIES (PAYS D’ÉTAT) RECOGNISED BY THE GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONARIES - THEMSELVES. - -A confidential letter, written by the Director of the Taxes to the -_Intendant_, on June 3rd, 1772, has the following:--‘In the _Pays -d’États_, the tax being a fixed _tantième_ (per-centage), every -taxpayer is subject to it, and really pays it. An augmentation -upon this _tantième_ is made in the assessment, in proportion to -the augmentation required by the King upon the total supplied--for -instance, a million instead of 900,000 livres. This is a simple -operation; whilst in the _Généralité_ the assessment is personal, and, -so to say, arbitrary; some pay their due, others only the half, others -the third, the quarter, or nothing at all. How, in this case, subject -the amount of taxation to the augmentation of one-ninth?’ - - -Note (LVII.)--Page 112, line 37. - -THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PRIVILEGED CLASSES UNDERSTOOD AT FIRST THE -PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION IN ROAD-MAKING. - -Count X., in a letter to the _Intendant_, complains of the very little -zeal shown in the establishment of a road in his neighbourhood. He says -it is the fault of the _Subdélégué_ who does not use sufficient energy -in the exercise of his functions, and will not compel the peasants to -do their forced labour (_corvées_). - - -Note (LVIII.)--Page 112, line 42. - -ARBITRARY IMPRISONMENT FOR THE CORVÉE. - -An example is given in a letter of a _Grand Prévôt_, in 1768:--‘I -ordered yesterday,’ it says, ‘the imprisonment of three men (at the -demand of M. C., Sub-Engineer), for not having done their _corvée_. -Upon which there was a considerable agitation among the women of the -village, who exclaimed, “The poor people are thought of quite enough -when the _corvée_ is to be done; but nobody takes care to see they have -enough to live upon.”’ - - -Note (LIX.)--Page 113, line 20. - -The resources for the making of roads were of two kinds. The greater -was the _corvée_, for all the great works that required only labour; -the smaller was derived from the general taxation, the amount of which -was placed at the disposition of the _Ponts et Chaussées_ for the -expenses of works requiring science. The privileged classes--that is -to say, the principal landowners--though more interested than all in -the construction of roads, contributed nothing to the _corvée_ and, -moreover, were still exempt otherwise, inasmuch as the taxation for the -_Ponts et Chaussées_ was annexed to the _taille_, and levied in the -same manner. - - -Note (LX.)--Page 113, line 29. - -EXAMPLE OF FORCED LABOUR IN THE TRANSPORT OF CONVICTS. - -It may be seen by a letter, addressed by a Commissary at the head of -the police department of convict-gangs, to the _Intendant_, in 1761, -that the peasants were compelled to cart the galley-slaves on their -way; that they executed this task with very ill will; and that they -were frequently maltreated by the convict-guards, ‘inasmuch,’ says -the Commissary, ‘as the guards are coarse and brutal fellows, and the -peasants who undertake this work by compulsion are often insolent.’ - - -Note (LXI.)--Page 113, line 32. - -Turgot has given descriptions of the inconvenience and hardship of -forced labour for the transport of military baggage, which, after a -perusal of the office papers, appear not to have been exaggerated. -Among other things, he says that its chief hardship consisted in the -unequal distribution of a very heavy burden, inasmuch as it fell -entirely upon a small number of parishes, which had the misfortune -of being placed on the high road. The distance to be done was often -one of five, six, or sometimes ten and fifteen leagues. In which case -three days were necessary for the journey out and home again. The -compensation given to the landowners only amounted to one-fifth of the -expense that fell upon them. The period when forced labour was required -was generally the summer, the time of harvest. The oxen were almost -always overdriven, and frequently fell ill after having been employed -at the work--so much so that a great number of landowners preferred -giving a sum of 15 to 20 livres rather than supply a waggon and four -oxen. The consequent confusion which took place was unavoidable. The -peasants were constantly exposed to violence of treatment from the -military. The officers almost always demanded more than was their -due; and sometimes they obliged the drivers, by force, to harness -saddle-horses to the vehicles at the risk of doing them a serious -injury. Sometimes the soldiers insisted upon riding upon carts already -overloaded; at other times, impatient at the slow progress of the oxen, -they goaded them with their swords, and when the peasants remonstrated -they were maltreated. - - -Note (LXII.)--Page 113, line 38. - -EXAMPLE OF THE MANNER IN WHICH FORCED LABOUR WAS APPLIED TO EVERYTHING. - -A correspondence arising, upon a complaint made by the Intendant of the -Naval department at Rochefort, concerning the difficulties made by the -peasants who were obliged by the _corvée_ to cart the wood purchased -by the navy contractors in the different provinces for the purposes -of shipbuilding, shows that the peasants were in truth still (1775) -obliged to do this forced labour, the price of which the Intendant -himself fixed. The Minister of the Navy transferred the complaint to -the Intendant of Tours, with the order that he must see to the supply -of the carriages required. The Intendant, M. Ducluzel, refused to -authorise this species of forced labour, whereupon the Minister wrote -him a threatening letter, telling him that he would have to answer -for his refusal to the King. The Intendant, to this, replied at once -(December 11th, 1775) with firmness, that, during the ten years he -had been Intendant at Tours, he never had chosen to authorise these -_corvées_, on account of the inevitable abuses resulting from them, for -which the price fixed for the use of the vehicles was no compensation. -‘For frequently,’ says his letter, ‘the animals are crippled by the -weight of the enormous masses they are obliged to drag through roads as -bad as the time of year when they are ordered out.’ What encouraged the -Intendant in his resistance seems to have been a letter of M. Turgot, -which is annexed to the papers on this matter. It is dated on July -30th, 1774, shortly after his becoming Minister; and it says that he -himself never authorised these _corvées_ at Limoges, and approves of M. -Ducluzel for not authorising them at Tours. - -It is proved by some portions of this correspondence that the timber -contractors frequently exacted this forced labour even when they were -not authorised to do so by the contracts made between themselves and -the State, inasmuch as they thus profited at least one-third in the -economy of their transport expenses. An example of the profit thus -obtained is given by a _Subdélégué_ in the following computation: -‘Distance of the transport of the wood from the spot where it is cut -to the river, by almost impracticable cross-roads, six leagues; time -employed in going and coming back, two days; reckoning (as an indemnity -to the _corvéables_) the square foot at the rate of six liards a -league, the whole amounts to 13 francs 10 sous for the journey--a sum -scarcely sufficient to pay the actual expenses of the small landowner, -of his assistant, and of the oxen or horses harnessed to his cart. -His own time and trouble, and the work of his beasts, are dead losses -to him.’ On May 17th, 1776, the Intendant was served by the Minister -with a positive order from the King to have this _corvée_ executed. M. -Ducluzel being then dead, his successor, M. l’Escalopier, very readily -obeyed, and published an ordinance declaring that the _Subdélégué_ -had to make the assessment of the amount of labour to be levied upon -each parish, in consequence of which the different persons obliged to -statute labour in the said parishes were constrained to go, according -to the time and place set forth by the syndics, to the spot where the -wood might happen to be, and cart it at the price regulated by the -_Subdélégué_. - - -Note (LXIII.)--Page 115, line 22. - -EXAMPLE OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE PEASANTS WERE OFTEN TREATED. - -In 1768 the King allowed a remittance of 2000 francs to be made upon -the _taille_ in the parish of Chapelle-Blanche, near Saumur. The -_curé_ wanted to appropriate a part of this sum to the construction of -a belfry, in order to get rid of the sound of the bells that annoyed -him, as he said, in his parsonage-house. The inhabitants complained and -resisted. The _Subdélégué_ took part with the _curé_, and had three of -the principal inhabitants arrested during the night and put into prison. - -Further examples may be found in a Royal order to imprison for -a fortnight a woman who had insulted two of the mounted rural -police; and another order for the imprisonment for a fortnight of a -stocking-weaver who had spoken ill of the same police. In this latter -case the Intendant replied to the Minister, that he had already put -the man in prison--a proceeding that met with the approval of the -Minister. This abuse of the _maréchaussée_ had arisen from the fact -of the violent arrest of several beggars, that seems to have greatly -shocked the population. The _Subdélégué_, it appears, in arresting the -weaver, made publicly known that all who should continue to insult the -_maréchaussée_ should be even still more severely punished. - -It appears by the correspondence between the _Subdélégué_ and their -Intendant (1760-1770) that orders were given by him to them to have -all ill-doing persons arrested--not to be tried, but to be punished -forthwith by imprisonment. In one instance the _Subdélégué_ asks leave -of the Intendant to condemn to perpetual imprisonment two dangerous -beggars whom he had arrested; in another we find the protest of a -father against the arrest of his son as a vagabond, because he was -travelling without his passport. Again, a householder of X. demands -the arrest of a man, one of his neighbours, who had come to establish -himself in the parish, to whom he had been of service, but who had -behaved ill, and was disagreeable to him; and the Intendant of Paris -writes to request the Intendant of Rouen to be kind enough to render -this service to the householder, who is one of his friends. - -In another case an Intendant replies to a person who wants to have -some beggars set at liberty, saying that the _Dépôt des Mendicants_ was -not to be considered as a prison, but only as a house intended for the -detention of beggars and vagabonds, as an ‘administrative correction.’ -This idea has come down to the French Penal Code, so much have the -traditions of the old monarchy, in these matters, maintained themselves. - - -Note (LXIV.)--Page 121, line 7. - -It has been said that the character of the philosophy of the eighteenth -century was a sort of adoration of human reason--a boundless confidence -in its almighty power to transform at its will laws, institutions, and -morals. But, upon examination, we shall see that, in truth, it was more -their own reason that some of these philosophers adored than human -reason. None ever showed less confidence in the wisdom of mankind than -these men. I could name many who had almost as much contempt for the -masses as for the Divinity. The latter they treated with the arrogance -of rivals, the former with the arrogance of upstarts. A real and -respectful submission to the will of the majority was as far from their -minds as submission to the Divine will. Almost all the revolutionists -of after days have displayed this double character. There is a wide -distance between their disposition and the respect shown by the English -and Americans to the opinion of the majority of their fellow-citizens. -Individual reason in those countries has its own pride and confidence -in itself, but is never insolent; it has thus led the way to freedom, -whilst in France it has done nothing but invent new forms of servitude. - - -Note (LXV.)--Page 132, line 15. - -Frederick the Great, in his Memoirs, has said: ‘Your great men, such as -Fontenelle, Voltaire, Hobbes, Collins, Shaftesbury, Bolingbroke, have -struck a mortal blow at religion. Men began to look into that which -they had blindly adored; reason overthrew superstition; disgust for all -the fables they had believed succeeded. Deism acquired many followers. -As Epicureanism became fatal to the idolatrous worship of the heathen, -so did Deism in our days to the Judaical visions adopted by our -forefathers. The freedom of opinion prevalent in England contributed -greatly to the progress of philosophy.’ - -It may be seen by the above passage that Frederick the Great, at -the time he wrote those lines, that is to say, in the middle of the -eighteenth century, still at that time looked upon England as the -seat of irreligious doctrines. But a still more striking fact may -be gathered from it, namely, that one of the sovereigns, the most -experienced in the knowledge of man, and of affairs in general, does -not appear to have the slightest idea of the political utility of -religion. The errors of judgment in the mind of his instructors had -evidently disordered the natural qualities of his own. - - -Note (LXVI.)--Page 150, line 1. - -The spirit of progress which showed itself in France at the end of -the eighteenth century appeared at the same time throughout all -Germany, and was everywhere accompanied by the same desire to change -the institutions of the time. A German historian gives the following -picture of what was then going on in his own country:-- - -‘In the second half of the eighteenth century the new spirit of the age -gradually introduced itself even into the ecclesiastical territories. -Reforms were begun in them; industry and tolerance made their way in -them on every side; and that enlightened absolutism, which had already -taken possession of the large states, penetrated even there. It must -be said at the same time, that at no period of the eighteenth century -had these ecclesiastical territories possessed such remarkable and -estimable Princes as during the last ten years preceding the French -Revolution.’ - -The resemblance of this picture to that which France then offered is -remarkable. In France, the movement in favour of amelioration and -progress began at the same epoch; and the men the most able to govern -appeared on the stage just at the time when the Revolution was about to -swallow up everything. - -It must be observed also how much all that portion of Germany was -visibly hurried on by the movement of civilisation and political -progress in France. - - -Note (LXVII.)--Page 151, line 1. - - THE LAWS OF ENGLAND PROVE THAT IT IS POSSIBLE FOR INSTITUTIONS TO - BE FULL OF DEFECTS AND YET NOT PREVENT THE ACCOMPLISHMENT OF THE - PRINCIPAL END AND AIM FOR WHICH THEY WERE ESTABLISHED. - -The power, which nations possess, of prospering in spite of the -imperfections to be met with in secondary portions of their -institutions, as long as the general principles and the actual spirit -which animate those institutions are full of life and vigour, is a -phenomenon which manifests itself with peculiar distinctness when the -judicial constitution of England in the last century, as described by -Blackstone, is looked into. - -The attention is immediately arrested by two great diversities, that -are very striking:-- - -First. The diversity of the laws. - -Secondly. The diversity of the Courts that administer them. - -I.--_Diversity of the Laws._--(1.) The laws are different for England -(properly so called), for Scotland, for Ireland, for the different -European dependencies of Great Britain, such as the Isle of Man, the -Channel Islands, &c., and, finally, for the British Colonies. - -(2.) In England itself may be found four kinds of laws--the common law, -statute laws, canon law, and equity. The common law is itself divided -into general customs adopted throughout the whole kingdom, and customs -specially belonging to certain manors or certain towns, or sometimes -only to certain classes, such as the trades. These customs sometimes -differ greatly from each other; as those, for instance, which, in -opposition to the general tendency of the English laws require an equal -distribution of property among all the children (gavelkind), and, what -is still more singular, give a right of primogeniture to the youngest -child (borough-English). - -II.--_Diversity of the Courts._--Blackstone informs us that the law has -instituted a prodigious variety of different courts. Some idea of this -may be obtained from the following extremely summary analysis:-- - -(1.) In the first place there were the Courts established without -the limits of England, properly so called; such as the Scotch and -Irish courts, which never were dependencies of the superior courts in -England, although an appeal lies from these several jurisdictions to -the House of Lords. - -(2.) In England itself, if I am correct in my memory, among the -classifications of Blackstone are to be found the following: - -1. Eleven kinds of Courts of Common Law, four of which, it is true, -seem to have already fallen into disuse. - -2. Three kinds of courts, the jurisdiction of which extends to the -whole country, but which take cognisance only of certain matters. - -3. Ten kinds of courts, having a special character of their own. One -of these kinds consists of Local Courts, established by different Acts -of Parliament, and existing by tradition, either in London itself or -in towns and boroughs in the counties. These Courts were so numerous, -and were so extremely various in their constitution and in their -regulations, that it would be out of the question to attempt to give a -detailed account of them. - -Thus, in England (properly so called) alone, if Blackstone is to be -believed, there existed, at the period when he wrote, that is to -say, in the second half of the eighteenth century, twenty-four kinds -of Courts, several of which were subdivided into a great number of -individual courts, each of which had its special peculiarities. If we -set aside those kinds, which appear at that time to have almost fallen -into disuse, we shall then find eighteen or twenty. - -If now the judicial system in itself be examined it will be found to -contain all sorts of imperfections. - -In spite of the multiplicity of the courts there was frequently a -want of smaller courts, of primary instance, placed within the reach -of those concerned, and empowered to judge on the spot, and at little -expense, all minor matters. This want rendered such legal proceedings -perplexing and expensive. The same matters came under the jurisdiction -of several courts; and thus an embarrassing uncertainty hung over the -commencements of legal proceedings. Some of the Appeal Courts were also -Courts of original jurisdiction--sometimes the Courts of Common Law, at -other times the Courts of Equity. There was a great diversity of Appeal -Courts. The only central point was that of the House of Lords. The -administrative litigant was not separated from the ordinary litigant--a -fact which, in the eyes of most French legal men, would appear a -monstrous anomaly. All these courts, moreover, looked for the grounds -of their judgments in four different kinds of legislation; that of the -Courts of Equity was established upon practice and tradition, since its -very object was most frequently to go against custom and statute, and -to correct, by the rules of the system framed by the Judges in Equity, -all that was antiquated or too harsh in statute and custom. - -These blemishes were very great; and if the enormous old machine of the -English judicial system be compared with the modern construction of -that of France, and the simplicity, consistence, and natural connexity -to be observed in the latter, with the remarkable complication and -incoherence of the former, the errors of the English jurisprudence -will appear greater still. Yet there is not a country in the world in -which, in the days of Blackstone, the great ends of justice are more -completely attained than in England; that is to say, no country in -which every man, whatever his condition of life--whether he appeared in -court as a common individual or a Prince--was more sure of being heard, -or found in the tribunals of his country better guarantees for the -defence of his property, his liberty, and his life. - -It is not meant by this that the defects of the English judicial -system were of any service to what I have here called the great ends -of justice: it proves only that in every judicial organisation there -are secondary defects that are only partially injurious to these ends -of justice; and other principal ones, that not only prove injurious to -them, but destroy them altogether, although joined to many secondary -perfections. The first mentioned are the most easily perceived; -they are the defects that generally first strike common minds: they -stare one in the face, as the saying goes. The others are often more -concealed; and it is not always the men the most learned in the law, -and other men in the profession, who discover them and point them out. - -It must be observed, moreover, that the same qualities may be either -secondary or principal, according to the period of history or the -political organisation of a country. In periods of aristocratic -predominance and inequality everything that tends to lessen any -privilege of any individual before the face of justice, to afford -guarantees to the weak against the strong, and to give a predominance -to the action of the state--which is naturally impartial in differences -only occurring between subjects--becomes a principal quality; whereas -it diminishes in importance in proportion to the inclination of the -social state and political constitution towards democracy. - -In studying the English judicial system upon these principles it will -be found that, although it permitted the existence of every defect that -could contribute to render justice in that country obscure, hampered, -slow, expensive, and inconvenient, it had taken infinite precautions -to prevent the strong from ever being favoured at the expense of the -weak, or the State at the expense of the private individual. The more -the observer penetrates into the details of the English legislation -the more he will see that every citizen was provided with all sorts -of weapons for his defence, and that matters were so arranged as to -afford to every one the greatest number of guarantees possible against -partiality, actual venality, and that sort of venality which is more -common, and especially more dangerous in democratic times--the venality -consisting of the servility of the courts towards the Government. - -In this point of view the English judicial system, in spite of the -numerous secondary errors that may still be found in it, appears to me -superior to the French, which, although almost entirely untainted, it -is true, by any one of these defects, does not at the same time offer -in like degree the principal qualities that are to be found in it, -which, although excellent in the guarantees it affords to every citizen -in all disputes between individuals, fails precisely in that point that -ought always to be strengthened in a democratic state of society like -the French, namely, in the guarantees afforded to individuals against -the State. - - -Note (LXVIII.)--Page 151, line 19. - -ADVANTAGES ENJOYED BY THE GÉNÉRALITÉ OF PARIS. - -This _Généralité_ was as much favoured in charities bestowed by the -Government as it was in the levying of taxes. An example may be found -in a letter of the _Contrôleur-Général_ to the _Intendant_ of the -_Généralité_ of the Île-de-France (dated May 22nd, 1787), in which he -informs the latter that the King had fixed the sum, which was to be -employed upon works of charity during the year, in the _Généralité_ of -Paris, at 172,800 livres; and 100,000 livres, moreover, were destined -for the purchase of cows, to be given to different husbandmen. It -may be seen by this letter that the sum of 172,000 livres was to be -distributed by the _Intendant_ alone, with the proviso that he was to -conform himself to the general rules already made known to him by the -Government, and that he was to lay the account of the distribution -before the _Contrôleur-Général_ for approval. - - -Note (LXIX.)--Page 152, line 27. - -The administration of the old monarchy was made up of a multitude -of different powers, which had been established at different times, -but generally for the purposes of the Treasury, and not of the -Administration, properly so called, and which frequently had the -same field of action. It was thus impossible to avoid confusion -and contention otherwise than by each party acting but little, or -even doing nothing at all. As soon as they made any efforts to rise -above this sort of languor, they hampered and entangled each other’s -movements; and thus it happened that the complaints made against the -complication of the administrative machinery, and the confusion as to -its different attributions, were very much more grievous during the -years that immediately preceded the Revolution than thirty or forty -years before. The political institutions of the country had not become -worse--on the contrary, they had been greatly ameliorated; but the -general political movement had become much more active. - - -Note (LXX.)--Page 157, line 30. - -ARBITRARY AUGMENTATION OF THE TAXES. - -What was here said by the King respecting the _taille_ might have -been said by him, with as much reason, concerning the _vingtièmes_, -as may be seen by the following correspondence:--In 1772 the -_Contrôleur-Général_ Terray had decided upon a considerable -augmentation (as much as 100,000 livres) upon the _vingtièmes_ of -the _Généralité_ of Tours. It is evident that this measure caused M. -Ducluzel, an able administrator and an honourable man, both sorrow and -embarrassment; for, in a confidential letter, he says: ‘It is probably -the facility with which the 200,000 livres’ (a previous augmentation) -‘have been given, that has encouraged the cruel interpretation and the -letter of the month of June.’ - -In a private and confidential letter, which the Director of -Contributions wrote thereupon to the _Intendant_, he says: ‘If the -augmentations which have been demanded appear to you, on account of the -general distress, to be as aggravating and as revolting as you give me -to understand, it would be better for the province, which can have no -other defence or protection than in your generous good-feeling, that -you should spare it, at least, the _rôles de supplément_, a retroactive -tax, that is always odious.’ - -It may be seen by this correspondence what a complete absence there was -of any solid basis, and what arbitrary measures were exercised, each -with honest intentions. Both Minister and Intendant laid the weight of -the increased taxation sometimes upon the agricultural rather than the -manufacturing interests, sometimes upon one kind of agriculture more -than another (as the growth of vines, for instance), according as they -fancied that the manufacturing or any one branch of the agricultural -interest ought to be more tenderly handled. - - -Note (LXXI.)--Page 159, line 13. - -EXPRESSIONS USED BY TURGOT RESPECTING THE COUNTRY PEOPLE IN THE -PREAMBLE OF A ROYAL DECLARATION. - -‘The rural communities consist, throughout the greater part of the -kingdom, of poor peasants, who are ignorant and brutal, and incapable -of self-administration.’ - - -Note (LXXII.)--Page 163, line 24. - -HOW IT WAS THAT REVOLUTIONARY IDEAS NATURALLY SPRANG UP IN MEN’S MINDS, -EVEN UNDER THE OLD MONARCHY. - -In 1779 an _avocat_ addressed a petition to the Council for a decree to -establish a maximum of the price of straw throughout the whole kingdom. - - -Note (LXXIII.)--Page 163, line 32. - -The Head Engineer, in a letter written to the _Intendant_, in 1781, -relative to a demand for an increase of indemnification, thus expresses -himself: ‘The claimant does not pay heed to the fact that the -indemnifications granted are an especial favour to the _Généralité_ -of Tours, and that people ought to consider themselves very fortunate -in recovering only a part of their loss. If such compensations as the -claimant requires were to be given, four millions would not suffice.’ - - -Note (LXXIV.)--Page 167, line 39. - -The Revolution did not break out on account of this prosperity, but -that active, uneasy, intelligent, innovating, ambitious spirit, that -was destined to produce the Revolution--the democratic spirit of -new states of society--began to stir up everything, and, before it -overthrew for a period the social state of France, was already strong -enough to agitate and develop it. - - -Note (LXXV.)--Page 169, line 13. - -COLLISION OF THE DIFFERENT ADMINISTRATIVE POWERS IN 1787. - -The following may be taken as an example:--The intermediate commission -of the Provincial Assembly of the Île-de-France claimed the -administration of the _Dépôt de Mendicité_. The _Intendant_ insisted -upon its remaining in his own hands, ‘inasmuch,’ said he, ‘as this -establishment is not kept up by the funds of the province.’ During -the discussion, the intermediate commission communicated with the -intermediate commissions of other provinces, in order to learn their -opinions. Among other answers given to its questions, exists one -from the intermediate commission of Champagne, informing that of the -Île-de-France that it had met with the very same difficulties, and had -offered the same resistance. - - -Note (LXXVI.)--Page 172, line 2. - -In the minutes of the first Provincial Assembly of the Île-de-France, -the following declaration may be found, proceeding from the mouth of -the reporter of the committee:--‘Up to the present time the functions -of syndic, which are far more onerous than honourable, are such as -to indispose from accepting them all those who unite a sufficient -competency to the intelligence to be expected from their position in -life.’ - - -Note (LXXVII.)--Page 173, line 9. - -FEUDAL RIGHTS, WHICH STILL EXISTED AT THE PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION, -ACCORDING TO THE FEUDAL LAWYERS. - -It is not the intention of the author here to write a treatise upon -feudal rights, and, least of all, to attempt any research into their -possible origin. It is simply his desire to point out those which were -still exercised in the eighteenth century. These rights played so -important a part at that time, and have since retained so large a space -in the imagination of the very persons who have no longer anything -to suffer from them, that it was a most interesting task to find out -precisely what they were when the Revolution destroyed them all. For -this purpose a great number of _terriers_, or rolls of feudal manors, -were studied,--those of the most recent date being selected. But this -manner of proceeding led to nothing; for the feudal rights, although -regulated by a legal code, which was the same throughout the whole -of feudal Europe, were infinitely various in their kinds, according -to the province, or even the districts, where they existed. The only -system, then, which appeared likely to lead, in an approximate manner, -to the required result, was the following:--These feudal rights were -continually giving rise to all sorts of disputes and litigation. In -these cases it was necessary to know how these rights were acquired, -how they were lost, in what they consisted exactly, which were the -dues that could only be collected by virtue of a Royal patent, which -those that could only be established by private title, which those on -the contrary that had no need of formal titles, and might be collected -upon the strength of local custom, or even in virtue of long usage. -Again, when they were for sale, it was necessary to know in what manner -they were to be valued, and what capital each of them represented, -according to its importance. All these points, so immediately affecting -a thousand pecuniary interests, were subject to litigation; and thus -was constituted a distinct class of legal men, whose only occupation -it was to elucidate them. Many of these men wrote during the second -half of the eighteenth century; some even just upon the threshold -of the Revolution. They were not lawyers, properly speaking, but -practitioners, whose only task it was to point out to professional -men the rules to be followed in this special and little attractive -portion of legal science. By an attentive study of these _feudistes_, a -tolerably minute and distinct idea of a subject, the size and confusion -of which is at first bewildering, may be at last come at. The author -gives below the most succinct summary he was able to make of his -work. These notes are principally derived from the work of Edmé de -Fréminville, who wrote about the year 1750, and from that of Renauldon, -written in 1765, and entitled ‘_Traité historique et pratique des -Droits Seigneuriaux_.’ - -The _cens_ (that is to say, the perpetual quit-rent, in kind and in -money, which, by the feudal laws, was affixed to the possession of -certain lands) still, in the eighteenth century, affected most deeply -the position of a great number of landed proprietors. This _cens_ -continued to be indivisible, that is to say, the entire _cens_ might -be claimed of any one of the possessors of the property, subject to -the _cens_ at will. It was always irredeemable. No proprietor of any -lands, subject to the _cens_, could sell them without being exposed to -the _retrait censuel_, that is to say, without being obliged to let the -property be taken back at the price of the sale; but this only took -place in certain _coutumes_. The _coutume_ of Paris, which was the most -general, did not recognise this right. - -_Lods et Ventes._--It was a general rule that, in every part of the -country where the _coutume_ prevailed, the sale of every estate -subject to the _cens_ should produce what were called _lods et -ventes_; in other words, the fines paid to the lords of the manor, -upon the alienation of this kind of property. These dues were more or -less considerable, according to the customs of the manor, but were -everywhere considerable enough; they existed just as well in parts -where the _droit écrit_ (written law) was established. They generally -consisted of one-sixth of the price, and were then named _lods_. But in -these parts the lord of the manor had to establish his rights. In what -was called _pays écrit_, as well as in _pays coutumier_, the _cens_ -gave the lord of the manor a privilege which took precedence of all -other debts on the estate. - -_Terrage or Champart.--Agrier.--Tasque._--These dues consisted of a -certain portion of the produce, which the lord of the manor levied -upon lands subject to the _cens_. The amount varied according to the -contracts or the customs of the place. This right is frequently to be -met with in the eighteenth century. I believe that the _terrage_, even -in _pays coutumier_, could only be claimed under express deed. The -_terrage_ was either _seigneurial_ or _foncier_. It is not necessary -to explain here the distinctions which existed between these two -different kinds. Suffice it to say that the _terrage foncier_ was fixed -for thirty years, like the _rentes foncières_, whilst the _terrage -seigneurial_ was irredeemable. Lands subject to _terrage_ could not be -mortgaged without the consent of the lord of the manor. - -_Bordelage._--A right which only existed in the Nivernais and -Bourbonnais countries, and which consisted in an annual quit-rent, -paid in money, corn, and fowls, upon lands subject to the _cens_. This -right entailed very rigorous consequences: non-payment of the dues -during three years gave cause for the exercise of the _commise_ or -entry to the advantage of the lord of the manor. A tenant owing the -_bordelage_ was more open than any other to a variety of annoyances -on his property. Sometimes the lord of the manor possessed the right -of claiming his inheritance, even when he died having heirs who had -legal rights to the succession. This was the most rigorous of any of -the feudal rights; and the law had finally restricted it only to rural -inheritances. ‘For,’ as our author says, ‘the peasant is always the -mule ready to bear every burden.’ - -_Marciage_ was the name of peculiar dues levied upon the possessors -of land, subject to the _cens_, in very few places, and consisting in -certain payments due only upon the natural death of the lord of the -manor. - -_Dîmes Inféodées._--There still existed in the eighteenth century -a great number of tithes in fief. They were generally established -by separate contract, and did not result from the mere fact of the -lordship of the manor. - -_Parcière._--The _parcières_ were dues levied upon the crops of fruit -gathered on the manor-lands. They bore resemblance to the _champart_ -and the _dîme inféodée_, and were principally in usage in the -Bourbonnais and Auvergne countries. - -_Carpot._--This was observed in the Bourbonnais country, and was a due -levied upon the vineyards, as the _champart_ was upon arable lands, -that is to say, it was levied upon a portion of the crops. It amounted -to a quarter of the vintage. - -_Servage._--The customs that still possessed traces of serfdom were -called _coutumes serves_; they were very few in number. In the -provinces where they were still observed there were no estates, or at -least very few, where some traces of ancient serfdom were not visible. -[This remark is derived from a work written in 1765.] The _Servage_ -(or, as the author terms it, the _Servitude_) was either personal or -real. - -The personal servitude was attached to the person, and followed him -everywhere. Wherever the serf might go, to whatever place he might -transport his substance, he might be reclaimed by the lord by right of -_suite_. Our authors cite several legal verdicts that establish this -right--among others, a verdict given on the 17th June, 1760, in which -the court decides against a _Seigneur_ of the Nivernais in respect to -his right of claiming the succession of Pierre Truchet, who was the -son of a serf subject to _poursuite_, according to the custom of the -Nivernais, who had married a Parisian woman, and who had died in Paris, -as well as his son. But this verdict seems to have been founded on the -fact that Paris was a ‘place of refuge’ (_lieu d’asile_) in which the -_suite_ could not take place. If the right of _asile_ alone prevented -the _Seigneur_ from seizing upon property possessed by his serfs in the -_lieu d’asile_, it formed no opposition against his claiming to succeed -to property left in his own manor. - -The ‘real’ servitude resulted from the occupation of land, and might -cease upon the land being given up or residence in a certain place -changed. - -_Corvées._--The right possessed by the lord of the manor over his -subjects, by means of which he could employ for his own profit a -certain number of their days of labour, or of their oxen and horses. -The _corvée à volonté_, that is to say, at the arbitrary will of the -_Seigneur_, had been completely abolished: forced labour had been for -some time past confined to a certain number of days a year. - -The _corvée_ might be either personal or real. The personal -_corvées_ were paid by labourers and workmen, whose residence was -established upon the manor, each according to his occupation. The real -_corvées_ were attached to the possession of certain lands. Nobles, -ecclesiastics, clerical personages, officers of justice, advocates, -physicians, notaries, and bankers, and men in that position of life, -were exempt from the _corvée_. A verdict, given on the 13th August, -1735, is cited by one of our authors, exempting a notary whom his -_Seigneur_ wanted to force to come for nothing, during three days, and -draw up certain law papers concerning the _seigneurie_ on which the -notary resided. Another verdict, of the date of 1750, decides that, -when the _corvée_ is personal, it may be paid either in person or by -money, the choice to be left to the person by whom it is due. Every -_corvée_ had to be established by written title-deeds. The _corvée -seigneuriale_ had become extremely rare in the eighteenth century. - -_Banalités._ (Rights possessed by the lords of certain manors to oblige -those residing on them to make use of his baking-office, mill, &c., -upon payment.)--The provinces of Flanders, Artois, and Hainault were -alone exempt from _banalités_. The Custom of Paris rigorously requires -that this should not be exercised without written title. Every person -domiciled within the circuit of the _banalité_ was subject to it, and, -most generally, even the nobles and priests also. - -Besides the _banalité_ of the wine-press and baking-office there -existed several others:-- - -(1.) _Banalités_ of industrial establishments, such as for cloth, -tanning, or hemp. This _banalité_ is established by many _coutumes_, as -for instance, by those of Anjou, the Maine, and Brittany. - -(2.) _Banalités_ of the wine-press. Few _coutumes_ mention this. But -that of Lorraine, as well as that of the Maine, establish it. - -(3.) _Banalité_ of the manor bull. No _coutumes_ mention this; but -there were title-deeds that established the right. The same may be said -of the right of _banalité_ for butchers’ shambles. - -In general these latter _banalités_ of which we have just spoken were -more uncommon, and looked upon with a still less favourable eye than -the others. They could only be exercised by the clearest declaration -of the _coutumes_, or, where that was wanting, by the most precise -title. - -_Ban des Vendanges._--This was still practised throughout the whole of -the kingdom in the eighteenth century. It was a simple right of police -attached to the right of _haute justice_. In order to exercise it, -the _Seigneur_, who was _Haut Justicier_, did not need to possess any -other title. The _ban des vendanges_ was obligatory upon everybody. The -_coutumes_ of Burgundy give the _Seigneur_ the right of gathering in -his vintage a day before any other vine proprietor. - -_Droit de Banvin._--This was a right still possessed by a quantity -of _Seigneurs_ (as our authors have it), either by custom or special -title, to sell the wine grown upon their manors for a certain period -of time, in general a month or forty days, before any one else. Among -the _grandes coutumes_ those of Tours, Anjou, the Maine, and La Marche -alone established it, and had regulations for it. A verdict of the -_Cour des Aides_, dated 28th August, 1751, authorises publicans (as -an exception to the common rule) to sell wine during the _banvin_; -but this must have referred only to the wine of the _Seigneur_, made -from that year’s growth. The _coutumes_ that establish and regulate -the right of _banvin_ generally require that it should be founded upon -legal title. - -_Droit de Blairie_ was a right belonging to the _Seigneur_, who was -_Haut Justicier_, to grant permission to the inhabitants to have their -cattle graze upon lands situated throughout his jurisdiction, or upon -waste lands. This right did not exist in any parts regulated by _droit -écrit_; but it was common enough in those where the _droit coutumier_ -was in force. It was to be found under different denominations, more -particularly in the Bourbonnais, the Nivernais, Auvergne, and Burgundy. -This right rested upon the supposition that the whole territory -originally belonged to the _Seigneur_, in such wise that, after the -distribution of the greater part into _fiefs_, _cencites_, and other -concessions of lands upon quit-rents, there still remained portions -which could only be used for waste pasture-ground, and of which he -might grant the temporary use to others. The _blairie_ was established -in several _coutumes_; but it could only be claimed by a _Seigneur_ who -was _Haut Justicier_, and was maintained only by some special title, or -at least by old claims supported by long possession. - -_Péages._--According to our authors, there originally existed a -prodigious number of manorial tolls upon bridges, rivers, and roads. -Louis XIV. did away with a great number of them. In 1724 a commission, -nominated to examine into the titles by which the tolls were claimed, -suppressed twelve hundred of them; and, in 1765, they were still being -constantly suppressed. ‘The principle observed in this respect,’ says -Renauldon, ‘was that, inasmuch as the toll was a tax, it was necessary -to be founded not only upon legal title, but upon one emanating from -the sovereign.’ The toll was levied ‘_De par le Roi_.’ One of the -conditions of the toll was that it should be established by _tarif_ -regulating the dues, which each kind of merchandise had to pay. It -was necessary that this _tarif_ should be approved by a decree of -the Council. ‘The title of concession,’ says one author, ‘had to be -followed by uninterrupted possession.’ In spite of these precautions -legally taken, it appears that the value of the tolls had greatly -increased in later times. ‘I know one toll,’ says the same author, -‘that was farmed out, a century ago, at 100 livres, and now brings in -1400; and another, farmed at 39,000 livres, that brings in 90,000.’ The -principal ordinances or principal decrees that regulated the right of -toll, were paragraph 29 of the Ordinance of 1669, and the Decrees of -1683, 1693, 1724, 1775. - -The authors I have quoted, although in general favourable enough to -feudal rights, acknowledge that great abuses were committed in the -levying of the tolls. - -_Bacs._--The right of ferries differed materially from the right of -toll. The latter was only levied upon merchandise; the former upon -individuals, animals, and carriages. It was necessary that this right, -in order to be exercised, should likewise be authorised by the King; -and the dues, to be levied, had to be fixed by the same decree of -Council that established and authorised it. - -_Droit de Leyde_ (to which many other names have been given in -different places) was a tax levied upon merchandise brought to fairs -and markets. Many lords of the manor (as appears by our _feudistes_) -considered this right as one attached to the right of _haute justice_, -and wholly manorial, but quite mistakenly, inasmuch as it could only -be authorised by the King. At all events, this right only belonged to -the _Seigneur_, who was _Haut Justicier_: he levied the police fines, -to which the exercise of the right gave occasion. It appears, however, -that, although by theory the _droit de leyde_ could only emanate from -the King, it was frequently set up solely upon the basis of feudal -title or long possession. - -It is very certain that fairs could not be established otherwise than -by Royal authorisation. - -The lords of the manor, however, had no need of any precise title, or -any concession on the part of the King, for the exercise of the right -of regulating the weights and measures to be used by their vassals -in all fairs and markets held upon the manor. It was enough for the -right to be founded upon custom and constant possession. Our authors -say that all the Kings, who, one after the other, were desirous of -re-establishing uniformity in the weights and measures, failed in the -attempt. Matters had been allowed to remain at the same point where -they were when the old _coutumes_ were drawn up. - -_Chemins._ (Rights exercised by the lords of the manor upon -roads.)--The high roads, called ‘_Chemins du Roi_’ (King’s highway), -belonged, in fact, to the sovereigns alone; their formation, their -reparation, and the offences committed upon them, were beyond the -cognisance of the _Seigneurs_ or their judges. The by-roads, to be -met with on any portion of a _Seigneurie_, doubtless belonged to such -_Seigneurs_ as were _Hauts Justiciers_. They had all the rights of -_voirie_ and police upon them, and their judges took cognisance of all -the offences committed upon them, except in Royal cases. At an earlier -period the _Seigneurs_ had been obliged to keep up the high roads -passing through their _seigneurie_, and, as a compensation for the -expenses incurred in these repairs, they were allowed the dues arising -from tolls, settlement of boundaries, and barriers; but, at this epoch, -the King had resumed the general direction of the high roads. - -_Eaux._--All the rivers, both navigable and floatable (admitting the -passage of rafts), belonged to the King, although they flowed through -the property of lords of the manor, and in spite of any title to the -contrary. (See Ordinance of 1669.) If the lords of the manor levied -any dues upon these rivers, it was those arising from the rights of -fishing, the mills, ferry-boats, and bridge-tolls, &c., in virtue of -concessions emanating only from the King. There were some lords of the -manor who still arrogated to themselves the rights of jurisdiction -and police upon these rivers; but this manifestly only arose from -usurpation, or from concessions improperly acquired. - -The smaller rivers unquestionably belonged to the _Seigneurs_ through -whose property they flowed. They possessed in them the same rights of -property, of jurisdiction, and police, which the King possessed upon -the navigable rivers. All _Seigneurs Hauts Justiciers_ were universally -the lords of the non-navigable rivers running through their territory. -They wanted no other legal title for the exercise of their claims -than that which conferred the right of _haute justice_. There were -some customs, such as the _Coutume du Berri_, that authorised private -individuals to erect a mill upon the seignorial river passing through -the lands they occupied, without the permission of the _Seigneur_. The -_Coutume de Bretagne_ only granted this right to private personages -who were noble. As a matter of general right, it is very certain -that the _Seigneur Haut Justicier_ had alone the right of erecting -mills throughout every part of his jurisdiction. No one was entitled -to erect barriers for the protection of his property without the -permission of the judges of the _Seigneur_. - -_Fontaines.--Puits.--Routoirs.--Étangs._--The rain-water that fell -upon the high roads belonged exclusively to the _Seigneurs Hauts -Justiciers_; they alone were enabled to dispose of it. The _Seigneur -Haut Justicier_ possessed the right of constructing ponds in any part -throughout his jurisdiction, and even upon lands in the possession of -those who resided under it, upon the condition of paying them the price -of the ground put under water. Private individuals were only able to -make ponds upon their own soil; and, even for this, many _coutumes_ -require that permission should be obtained of the _Seigneur_. The -_coutumes_, however, thus requiring the acquiescence of the _Seigneur_, -establish that it is to be given gratuitously. - -_La Pêche._--The right of fishing on navigable or floatable rivers -belonged only to the King, and he alone could make grants of this -right. The Royal Judges alone had the right of judging offences -against the right of fishery. There were many _Seigneurs_, however, -who exercised the right of fishing in these streams; but they either -possessed by concession made by the King, or had usurped it. No -person could fish, even with the rod, in non-navigable rivers without -permission from the _Seigneur Haut Justicier_ within whose limits they -flowed. A judgment (dated April 30th, 1749) condemns a fisherman in a -similar case. Even the _Seigneurs_ themselves, however, were obliged, -in fishing, to observe the general regulations respecting fisheries. -The _Seigneur Haut Justicier_ was enabled to give the right of fishing -in his river to tenants in fief, or _à cens_. - -_La Chasse._--The right of the chase was not allowed to be farmed -out like that of fishing. It was a personal right, arising from the -consideration that it belonged to the King, and that the nobles -themselves could not exercise it, in the interior of their own -jurisdiction, without the permission of the King. This doctrine was -established in an Ordinance of 1669 (par. 30). The judges of the -_Seigneur_ had the power of taking cognisance of all offences against -the rights of the chase, except in cases appertaining to _bêtes -rousses_ (signifying, it would appear, what were generally called -‘_grosses bêtes_’--stags, does, &c.), which were considered Royal. - -The right of shooting and hunting was more interdicted to the non-noble -than any other. The fee fief of the non-noble did not even bestow it. -The King never granted it in his own hunt. So closely observed was -this principle, and so rigorous was the right considered, that the -_Seigneur_ was not allowed to give any permission to hunt. But still -it did constantly occur that _Seigneurs_ granted such permissions -not only to nobles but to non-nobles. The _Seigneur Haut Justicier_ -possessed the faculty of hunting and shooting on any part of his -own jurisdiction, but alone. He was allowed to make regulations -and establish prohibitions upon matters appertaining to the chase -throughout its extent. Every _Seigneur de Fief_, although not having -the feudal power of judicial courts, was allowed to hunt and shoot -in any part of his fief. Nobles who possessed neither fief nor -jurisdiction were allowed to do so upon the lands belonging to them in -the immediate neighbourhood of their dwelling-houses. It was decided -that the non-noble possessing a park upon the territory of a _Seigneur -Haut Justicier_ was obliged to leave it open for the diversion of the -lord. But this judgment was given as long ago as 1668. - -_Garennes._--Rabbit-warrens could not be established without -title-right. Non-nobles, as well as nobles, were allowed to have -rabbit-warrens; but the nobles alone were allowed to keep ferrets. - -_Colombiers._--Certain _coutumes_ only give the right of _colombiers à -pied_ (dovecots standing apart from a building) to the _Seigneurs Hauts -Justiciers_; others grant it to all holders of fiefs. In Dauphiny, -Brittany, and Normandy, no non-noble was allowed to possess dovecot, -pigeon-house, or aviary; the nobles alone were allowed to keep pigeons. -The penalties pronounced against those who killed the pigeons were -extremely severe: the most afflictive punishments were sometimes -bestowed. - -Such, according to the authors above cited, were the principal feudal -rights still exercised and dues still levied in the second half of the -eighteenth century. ‘The rights here mentioned,’ they add, ‘are those -generally established at the present time. But there are still very -many others, less known and less widely practised, which only occur -in certain _coutumes_, or only in certain _seigneuries_, in virtue of -peculiar titles.’ These rarer and more restricted feudal rights, of -which our authors thus make mention, and which they enumerate, amount -to the number of ninety-nine; and the greater part of them are directly -prejudicial to agriculture, inasmuch as they give the _Seigneurs_ -certain rights over the harvests, or tolls upon the sale or transport -of grain, fruit, provisions, &c. Our authors say that most of these -feudal rights were out of use in their day; I have reason to believe, -however, that a great number of these dues were still levied, in some -places, in 1789. - -After having studied, among the writers on feudal rights in the -eighteenth century, the principal feudal rights still exercised, I was -desirous of finding out what was their importance in the eyes of their -contemporaries, at least as regarded the fortunes of those who levied -them and those who had to pay them. - -Renauldon, one of the authors I have mentioned, gives us an insight -into this matter, by laying before us the rules that legal men had -to follow in their valuation of the different feudal rights which -still existed in 1765, that is to say, twenty-four years before the -Revolution. According to this law writer, the rules to be observed on -these matters were as follow:-- - -_Droits de Justice._--‘Some of our _coutumes_,’ he says, ‘estimate -the value of _justice haute_, _basse_, or _moyenne_ at a tenth of the -revenues of the land. At that time the seignorial jurisdiction was -considered of great importance. Edmé de Fréminville opines that, at -the present day, the right of jurisdiction ought not to be valued at -more than a twentieth of the revenues of the land; and I consider this -valuation still too large.’ - -_Droits Honorifiques._--‘However inestimable these rights may be -considered,’ declares our author, a man of a practical turn of mind, -and not easily led away by appearances, ‘it would be prudent on the -part of those who make valuations to fix them at a very moderate price.’ - -_Corvées Seigneuriales._--Our author, in giving the rules for the -estimation of the value of forced labour, proves that the right of -enforcing it was still to be met with sometimes. He values the day’s -work of an ox at 20 sous, and that of the labourer at 5 sous, with his -food. A tolerably good indication of the price of wages paid in 1765 -may be gathered from this. - -_Péages._--Respecting the valuation of the tolls our author says, -‘There is not one of the Seignorial rights that ought to be estimated -lower than the tolls. They are very precarious. The repairs of -the roads and bridges--the most useful to the commerce of the -country--being now maintained by the King and the provinces, many of -the tolls become useless nowadays, and they are suppressed more and -more every day. - -_Droit de Pêche et de Chasse._--The right of fishing may be farmed -out, and may thus give occasion for valuation. The right of the chase -is purely personal, and cannot be farmed out; it may consequently be -reckoned among the honorary rights but not among the profitable rights, -and cannot, therefore, be comprehended in any valuation. - -Our author then mentions more particularly the rights of _banalité_, -_banvin_, _leyde_, and _blairie_, and thus proves that these rights -were those most frequently exercised at that time, and that they -maintained the greatest importance. He adds, ‘There is a quantity of -other seignorial rights, which may still be met with from time to time, -but which it would be too long and indeed impossible to make mention -of here. But intelligent appraisers will find sufficient rules, in the -examples we have already given, for the estimation of those rights of -which we do not speak.’ - -_Estimation du Cens._--The greater number of the _coutumes_ place the -estimation of the _cens_, _au denier_ 30 (3-1/3 per cent.). The high -valuation of the _cens_ arises from the fact that it represents at the -same time all such remunerative casualties as the _lods et ventes_, for -instance. - -_Dîmes inféodées.--Terrage._--The tithes in fief cannot be estimated at -less than 4 per cent.; this sort of property calling neither for care, -culture, nor expense. When the _terrage_ or _champart_ includes _lods -et ventes_, that is to say, when the land subject to these dues cannot -be sold without paying for the right of exchange to the _Seigneur_, who -has the right of tenure _in capite_, the valuation must be raised to -3-1/3 per cent.; if not it must be estimated like the tithes. - -_Les Rentes foncières_, which produced no _lods et ventes_ or _droit de -retenu_ (that is to say, which are not seignorial revenue), ought to be -estimated at 5 per cent. - - -ESTIMATE OF THE DIFFERENT HEREDITARY ESTATES EXISTING IN FRANCE BEFORE -THE REVOLUTION. - -We recognise in France, says this writer, only three kinds of estates:-- - -(1.) The _Franc Alleu_.--This was a freehold estate, exempt from every -kind of burden, and subject neither to seignorial duties nor dues, -either profitable or honorary. - -There were both noble and non-noble _francs alleux_. The noble _franc -alleu_ had its right of jurisdiction or fiefs dependent on it, or lands -paying quit-rents: it followed all the observances of feudal law in -subdivision. The non-noble _franc alleu_ had neither jurisdiction, nor -fief, nor _censive_, and was heritable according to the laws affecting -non-nobles. The author looks upon the holders of _francs alleux_ as -alone possessing complete property in the land. - -_Valuation of Estates in Franc Alleu._--They were valued the highest of -all. The _coutumes_ of Auvergne and Burgundy put the valuation of them -as high as 40 years’ purchase. Our author opines that their valuation -at 30 years’ purchase would be exact. It must be observed that all -non-noble _francs alleux_ placed within the limits of a seignorial -jurisdiction were subject to this jurisdiction. They were not in any -dependence of vassalage to the _Seigneur_, but owed submission to a -jurisdiction which had the position of that of the Courts of the State. - -(2.) The second kind was that of estates held in fief. - -(3.) The third was that of estates held on quit-rents, or, in the law -language of the time, _Rotures_. - -_Valuation of an Estate held in Fief._--The valuation was less, -according as the feudal burdens on it were greater. - -(1.) In the parts of the country where written law was observed, and in -many of the _coutumes_, the fiefs lay only under the obligation of what -was called ‘_la bouche et les mains_,’ that is to say, that of doing -homage. - -(2.) In other _coutumes_ the fiefs, besides the obligation of ‘_la -bouche et les mains_,’ were what was called ‘_de danger_,’ as in -Burgundy, and were subject to the _commise_, or feudal resumption, in -case the holder of the property should take possession without having -rendered submission or homage. - -(3.) Other _coutumes_, again, as in that of Paris and many others, -subject the _fiefs_ not only to the obligation of doing homage, but to -the _rachat_, the _quint_, and the _requint_. - -(4.) By other _coutumes_, also, such as that of Poitou and a few -others, they were subjected to _chambellage_ dues, the _cheval de -service_, &c. - -Of these four all estates of the first category were valued more highly -than the others. - -The _coutume_ of Paris laid their valuation at 20 years’ purchase, -which is looked upon by our author as tolerably correct. - -_Valuation of Estates ‘en roture’ and ‘en censive.’_--In order to -come to a proper valuation, these lands have to be divided into three -classes:-- - -(1.) Estates held simply on quit-rents. - -(2.) Those which, beside the quit-rent, are subject to other kinds of -feudal servitude. - -(3.) Those held in mortmain, _à taille réelle, en bordelage_. - -Only the first and second of these three forms of non-noble property -were common in the eighteenth century; the third was extremely rare. -The valuations to be made of them, according to our author, were less -on coming down to the second class, and still less on coming down to -the third. Men in possession of estates of the third class were not -even, strictly speaking, their owners, inasmuch as they were not able -to alienate them without permission from the _Seigneur_. - -_Le Terrier._--The _feudistes_, whom we have cited above, point out -the following rules observed in the compilation or renewal of the -seignorial registers, called ‘_Terriers_,’ mention of which has been -made in many parts of the work. The _Terrier_ was a single register, in -which were recorded all the titles proving the rights appertaining to -the _seigneurie_, whether in property or in honorary, real, personal, -or mixed rights. All the declarations of the payers of the _cens_, the -usages of the _seigneurie_, the leases _à cens_, &c., were inserted -in it. We learn by our authors that, in the _coutume_ of Paris, the -_Seigneurs_ were permitted to renew their registers every thirty years -at the expense of their _censitaires_: they add, however, ‘It may be -considered a very fortunate circumstance, nevertheless, when a new -one may be found once a century.’ The _Terrier_ could not be renewed -(it was a vexatious business for all the persons dependent on the -_seigneurie_) without obtaining, either from the _Grande Chancellerie_ -(if in cases of _seigneuries_ situated within the jurisdiction of -different Parliaments), or of the Parliaments (in the contrary case), -an authorisation which was denominated ‘_Lettres à Terrier_.’ The -notary who drew them up was nominated by the judicial authorities. All -the vassals, noble or non-noble, the payers of the _cens_, holders of -long leases (_emphytéotes_), and personages subject to the jurisdiction -of the _seigneurie_ were bound to appear before this notary. A plan of -the _seigneurie_ had to be annexed to the _Terrier_. - -Besides the _Terrier_, the _seigneurie_ was provided with other -registers, called ‘_lièves_,’ in which the _Seigneurs_ or their farmers -inscribed the sums received in payment of the _cens_, with the names of -those who paid and the dates of the receipts. - - - PRINTED BY - SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE - LONDON - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[139] These Notes and Illustrations were translated by the late Lady -Duff Gordon. - -[140] See last note. - -[141] _I.e._ not corporations for trading purposes, but bodies like our -livery companies. - - - - - * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber’s note: - -Original spellings and variations in hyphenation have been retained. - -The following apparent typographical errors were corrected: - -Page 38, “sate” changed to “sat.” (some of whom sat there in virtue) - -Page 74, “commmunity” changed to “community.” ( The other classes of -the community) - -Page 169, “not” changed to “no.” (could no longer give orders) - -Page 300, “uresses” changed to “rousses.” (appertaining to _bêtes -rousses_) - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STATE OF SOCIETY IN FRANCE -BEFORE THE REVOLUTION OF 1789*** - - -******* This file should be named 54187-0.txt or 54187-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/4/1/8/54187 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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