III. 1788. insensible to all the benefits which the country would CHAP. derive from the changes: the edicts were received in sullen silence; and the first thing the councillors did, when the assembly was dissolved, was to meet in private and protest against them all. Soon after, they wrote officially to the King, declaring that they declined to execute any of the edicts, or interfere in any way with their administration. 111. of an As which also States-gene Brienne, however, soon found that the new machinery which he had established could not be put in motion. Convocation The excitement produced by the resistance of the par-sembly of liament of Paris, imitated as it was by that of all the the clergy, other parliaments in France, was such, that it was demands the found impossible to get other magistrates to supply ral. their place. The High Court of Châtelet at Paris was the first to set this example. Over all France, a similar coup-d'état had been attempted as at Paris, on the same day; but the resistance was every where the same: the old courts were suspended, but adequate persons could frequently not be found to fill the new ones. The members of inferior courts erected into great bailliages, indeed, cordially approved of the change, and strongly supported it; but their influence was inconsiderable compared to that of the parliaments, which were all on the other side, and the abilities and information of the new functionaries were seldom equal to the duties to which they were called. Pressed by the necessitous state of the exchequer, Brienne, as a last accused; the crime of which the accused was found guilty was to be specified in the sentence, and no punishment to be permitted but what the law prescribed for the offence. The fourth established the cour plénière, for the registration of taxes and for other elevated functions, which has been already described. The fifth restricted the jurisdiction of the parliament of Paris, and established certain local courts, styled grands bailliages, in its stead, in the places detached from its jurisdiction. By the sixth, and last edict, all the courts of the kingdom were declared in a state of vacation-in other words, suspended-till the new courts of law were in full operation.-See SALLIER, Annales Françaises, viii. 168-174; and WEBER, i. 215, 216. III. 1788. June 15, 1788. resource, convoked an extraordinary assembly of the clergy, hoping that in them, at least, the crown, in its last extremity, would find supporters; and that, by consenting to the imposition of the direct taxes on their extensive possessions, or by voting a gratuitous gift in lieu of these, they would furnish a considerable relief to the public treasury. But here, too, he experienced the same resistance as from the other privileged bodies; the clergy readily divined what was expected of them, and instead of voting the expected gift, they imitated the example of the Notables and parliament, and eluded the demand by representing, that the Statesgeneral could alone sanction the imposition of new burdens, and that their immediate convocation had become indispensable. Juigné, archbishop of Paris, a prelate of an austere and irreproachable life, was the leader of this unexpected opposition. They remonstrated, in an especial manner, against the alarming principle, that the clergy were to be subjected to the taille; and even insisted, that the investigation as to the frauds committed in evading the last vingtième should be discontinued.* The people, carried away by the spirit of factious opposition to every thing which emanated from the crown, loudly applauded the assertion of these unjust exclusive privileges. It was hard to say whether they were most vehement in supporting the nobility or the clergy, in the maintenance of these * "Notre silence,' disait le clergé, 'serait un crime dont la nation et la postérité ne voudraient jamais nous absoudre. Votre majesté vient d'opérer dans le lit de justice du 8 Mai un grand mouvement, dans les choses et dans les personnes. Nous pouvons espérer que si pareille révolution devait arriver, elle serait la suite plutôt que le préliminaire des états-généraux. Telle est la constitution de ce royaume que toutes les lois sont conçues dans le conseil privé du souverain, et ensuite vérifiées et publiées dans ses conseils publics et per manens. La volonté du prince qui n'a pas été éclairée par ses cours, peut être regardée comme sa volonté momentanée. Elle n'acquiert cette majesté qui assure l'exécution et l'obéissance que préalablement les motifs et les remonstrances de vos cours n'aient été entendus en votre conseil privé. . . . Le peuple Français, Sire, n'est pas imposable à volonté. Les Francs étaient un peuple libre. Les princes vivaient de leurs domaines, et des présens qu'on leur faisait au Champ de Mars. Les trois ordres parurent aux états-généraux, CHAP. invidious distinctions; every thing was patriotic, so as it embarrassed and weakened the King. Thus the Notables, the parliaments, and the clergy successively 1788. refused to surrender one tittle of their exclusive privileges, and obstinately resisted all the measures proposed by government calculated to effect legislative improvements, and strengthen the crown, by restoring the finances; and in doing so they were all cordially supported by the nation. They all concurred in demanding, each in a louder tone than its predecessor, the convocation of the States-general; and the first thing 68, 69. the States-general did was to destroy them all.1 De Stael, i. 125, 126. Soul. vi. 195, 196. Lac. vi. 254, 255. Droz, ii. Bearn and Troubles of a very serious kind broke out in many 112. parts of France, in consequence of the attempt to Troubles in introduce the Cour Plénière at Paris, and the rural Dauphiné. noblesse, in the disturbed provinces, generally took part with the parliaments. It was in the pays d'états which already possessed little states-general of their own, that these chiefly appeared an ominous circumstance as to what might be expected of the whole nation, when a similar assembly was brought together from every part of the country. In Bearn, which had from time immemorial possessed estates of its own, and in which a strong independent spirit had always prevailed, the nobles met, and addressed an energetic remonstrance to the Duc de Guiche, who had been sent down on the part of the King to allay the disturbances.* Supported by the whole nobles of the June 1788. où les subsides et les aides sont octroyés de bonne volonté et grace spéciale, par liberalité et courtoisie qui ne peuvent tourner ni à servitude contre les sujets, ni à nouvel droit pour le souverain. Tel est l'ancien droit du royaume, conservé tout entier dans les pays d'états. Le clergé dans ses assemblées en offre aujourd'hui les principes et les formes; il les a toujours conservés et réclamés non comme des privilèges-si ces franchises sont suspendues, elles ne sont pas détruites-si les parlemens ont vérifié de leur autorité particulière les impôts, ils avaient un titre coloré. La nation les avait appelés Des Etats Raccourcis à petit pied. La capitation, le vingtième, et toutes les extensions bursales s'étaient introduits furtivement; il est tems de declarer leur incom. pétence."-Remontrance du Clergé, 15th June 1788; SALLIER, Annales Françaises, viii. 324, 336; and SOULAVIE, vi. 198, 200. * "Voici," said they, "le berceau du Grand Henri; et sous cette enseigne III. 1788. CHAP. country, the clergy, and the Tiers Etat, the parliament resolved to set at nought the royal edict, and not discontinue its functions. In Dauphiné, another pays d'états, the effervescence assumed a still more alarming character. No sooner was intelligence received that their provincial parliament was suspended, than the tocsin sounded in the mountains. Menacing groups of highlanders descended from the elevated valleys: Grenoble was attacked, the gates forced, the guard of the intendant of the province dispersed, and the dispossessed magistrates conducted, amidst loud shouts, to the old hall of justice, where they were obliged to resume their functions. Happily, at this critical juncture, the military noblesse of the province assembled, and, by heading, obtained the direction of the movement. Three hundred landowners, of that order, swore on their swords to defend the rights of the province to the last drop of their blood; and a general rendezvous of the whole of Dauphiné was appointed to be held forthwith at Vizile, to take the oath of fidelity to their country on the tomb of the Chevalier Bayard. They assembled there, accordingly, in such force that the governor of the province, the old Marshal De Vaux, a man of known firmness of character, wrote to the King, that he could not prevent the meeting though he had twenty thousand men under his orders. Five hundred nobles of Dauphiné met with the clergy and deputies of the Tiers Etat of the province, and appointed as their secretary, MOUNIER, the judge-royal of Grenoble, a man of an upright and honourable character, after sacrée les Béarnais ne craignent pas la mort. Ils sentent couler dans leurs veines le sang de leurs ancêtres, qui ont mis sur le trône les princes de la maison de Bourbon. Nous ne sommes point des rebelles. Nous réclamons notre contrat et la foi des sermens d'un roi que nous aimons. Le Béarnais est né libre-il ne mourra pas esclave. Il est pauvre, mais il est bon. Un grand roi l'a dit 'Il est prêt à faire au roi le sacrifice de sa fortune;' mais qu'il respecte le contrat qu'il a fait avec nous. Qu'il tienne tout de nous de l'amour, et rien de la force. Nous prodiguerons notre sang contre les ennemis de l'état; mais qu'on ne vienne pas nous arracher la vie quand nous défendons la liberté.”— SOULAVIE, vi. 205. III. 1788. wards well known in the commencement of the Revolu- CHAP. tion.* They declared "infamous, and traitors to their country," all who should take office in the courts established by Brienne; and unanimously passed resolutions demanding the recall of the parliament of Dauphiné, and the resumption of its functions without any abridgement; the assembly of the States-general; the convocation of the estates of the province in a single chamber, with the Tiers Etat equal in number to the other members; their immediate union with the other provinces; and declaring their determination to resist 208, 210. the payment of all taxes till the States-general were 73, 75. assembled, and the deposed magistrates restored.1 1 Soul. vi. Droz, ii. troubles in In Dauphiné the vehemence of popular excess was 113. prevented by the nobles putting themselves at the head Serious of the movement, and the wisdom with which they were Brittany. July, 1788. directed by Mounier. But it was not thus in Brittany, where the governor of the province, Count de Thiard, prohibited the assembling of the estates, and the nobles were at once brought into collision with the royal authority. It was well known that the King would not permit the military to use their arms against the people; and, in fact, secret orders to that effect had already been given, so that the prohibition met with no attention. The very day after it was issued, a hundred and thirty nobles drew up a protest, in which * Jean Joseph Mounier, born at Grenoble on the 12th November 1758, was the son of a worthy and respectable citizen of that place. At first he was desirous of entering the army, but the rigid rules which at that period confined the higher ranks of that career to young men of aristocratic birth rendered this impossible. He then became a merchant, but soon tired of that profession, and at length took to the law, and passed at the bar in Grenoble in 1779. At the age of twenty-six he was appointed to the office of judge-royal in that city; and with such assiduity and talent did he discharge its duties, that, during six years that he held the office, there was only one of his judgments appealed from. In the intervals of his judicial labours he cultivated natural history, and entered with ardour upon the study of public law and politics. Similarity of study and inclinations made him early contract a close intimacy with several English travellers, who were attracted to Grenoble by the romantic beauties of its environs, particularly the inimitable passes which lead up to the Grande Chartreuse; and from them he imbibed that profound |