III. 1788. CHAP. productive, in the end, of unheard-of calamities. The authors of these disorders, though well known, were not prosecuted; the Marquis de Nesles, their principal leader, was not even inquired after. The parliament, instead, as they were in duty bound, of protecting the police and military who had put down the riots which threatened such serious consequences, and instituting prosecutions against the ringleaders in them, passed over their crimes in silence. In place of doing so, they adopted two arrêts, directing the trial, not of the insurgents, but of the police-officers who had arrested their incendiary violence! Du Bois, whose firmness had saved the capital from incalculable calamities, was obliged to fly from Paris to avoid destruction by the populace. Not one of the insurgents was brought to justice, nor was the slightest attempt made to discover them-the distinctive mark of revolutionary times, and the certain prelude to the overthrow of society. When government deems it prudent not to prosecute, or does not venture to bring to justice the leaders of popular violence, how great soever their crimes; when it is generally felt that more danger is run by the magistrates and soldiers, who are intrusted with the Duval, i. 20, preservation of the peace, if they discharge their duty, 21. Hit than if they neglect it; and when it becomes evident that Sallier, 208. the only persons who are secure of impunity, in a collision Montjoye, between them and the people, are the perpetrators of léans, i. 178. revolutionary crimes, it may be concluded with certainty that unbounded national calamities are at hand.1 1 Lab. ii. 284, 285. Parl. i. 255. Hist. du Duc D'Or 123. joy on Necker's restoration to office. But although to the far-seeing sagacity of political Universal wisdom, this weakness on the part of government, and betrayal of duty on the part of the magistracy, might appear fraught with the most perilous consequences, yet to the ordinary observer the restoration of Necker to office seemed fraught with the happiest auguries, and to forebode only peace and happiness to France. His reception at court was in the highest degree flattering: the Queen and princes assured him of their entire confidence; CHAP. III. 1788. the repugnance of the King seemed to be overcome; the courtiers and nobles flocked round him in crowds when he came from the presence-chamber, after receiving his appointment. Even the most inveterate of his former opponents were among the foremost to tender their congratulations. They were perfectly sincere in doing so : they regarded him as the only barrier between them and national bankruptcy; he was the mighty magician whose wand was again to unlock the doors of the treasury. The same rejoicings took place all over France. Universally, for a brief space, the public discontents were stilled. On entering upon office he found the treasury empty, and the credit of government extinct. Next day he received tenders of loans to a considerable extent, and the funds rose thirty per cent. An infusion of popular power into the government was deemed, at that period, a sovereign remedy for all difficulties, a certain antidote to all disorders. The public creditors were then only alive to the danger of national bankruptcy which arose from the perfidy or extravagance of kings; they had yet to learn the far more imminent peril which springs from the violence and vacillation of the people. He immediately recalled all persons exiled for political offences, and strove to the utmost to assuage individual distress. But it was too late. When he received the intimation of his recall, De Stael, his first words were, "Ah! would that I could recall the Lab. ii. fifteen months of the Archbishop of Toulouse!" In truth, Weber, i. during that eventful time the period of safe concession val, ii. 332. had gone by; every point now abandoned was adding fuel to the flame.1 It was in the midst of the effervescence arising from these popular tumults, that the royal edict for summoning the States-general appeared. It set out with an eloquent and touching exposition, which all felt to be true, of the King's motives for calling them together.* It appointed * The circular calling together the States-general bore,—“ We have need of the concourse of our faithful subjects, to aid us in surmounting the difficulties 1 275, 276. 252. Besen 124. Royal edict moning the for sum States-general. Aug. 27. CHAP. the election to take place by a double process. III. 1788. In the first instance, the electors of each bailiwick were to meet and choose delegates, and these delegates were to elect the members of the States-general. Strange to say, no property qualification whatever was declared necessary, either for an elector in the primary assemblies which chose the delegates, or for the delegates themselves, or for the members of the States-general. It was merely declared that the number of delegates chosen in the rural districts should be two for each two hundred hearths, three above two hundred hearths, four above three hundred, and so on.* In the towns, again, two delegates were to be chosen for each hundred " inhabitants ;" four above a hundred; six above two hundred, and so on.† Nearly three millions of Frenchmen were admitted under this regulation to a privilege which substantially amounted arising from the state of the finances, and establishing, in conformity with our most ardent desire, a durable order in the parts of government which affect the public welfare. We wish that the three estates should confer together on the matters which will be submitted to their examination: they will make known to us the wishes and grievances of the people in such a way that, by a mutual confidence, and exchange of kind offices between the King and people, the public evils should as rapidly as possible be remedied. For this purpose we enjoin and command that, immediately on the receipt of this letter, you proceed to elect deputies of the three orders, worthy of confidence from their virtues, and the spirit with which they are animated; that the deputies should be furnished with powers and instructions sufficient to enable them to attend to all the concerns of the state, and introduce such remedies as shall be deemed advisable for the reform of abuses, and the establishment of a fixed and durable order in all parts of the government, worthy of the paternal affections of the King and of the resolutions of so noble an assembly."-CALONNE, 315; LAB. ii. 335; Hist. Parl., i. 268, 269. * "Le nombre des députés [delegates] qui seront choisis par les paroisses et communautés de campagne pour porter leurs cahiers, seront de deux à raison de deux cents feux et audessous; trois, audessus de deux cents feux; quatre, audessus de trois cent feux; et ainsi de suite. Les villes enverront le nombre des députés aux états-généraux annexé au présent règlement; à l'égard de toutes celles qui ne s'y trouvent pas comprises, le nombre de leurs députés sera fixé à quatre."-Art. 31, Edict, 27th Aug. 1788; Hist. Parl. i. 269. + "Les habitans composant le Tiers Etat des villes qui ne se trouvent compris dans aucuns corps, communautés, ou corporations, s'assembleront à l'Hôtel de Ville, au jour qui sera indiqué par les officiers municipaux, et il y sera élu des députés [delegates] dans la proportion de deux députés pour cent individus et audessous présens à la dite assemblée; quatre audessus de cent; six audessus de deux cents; et toujours en augmentant ainsi dans la même proportion."-Ibid. art. 27. III. 1788. to the power of choosing representatives; for the electors CHAP. were nothing but delegates, who, in every instance, obeyed the directions of their representatives. Finally, this immense body were intrusted with the important privilege of drawing up cahiers, or directions to their constituents in regard to the conduct they were to pursue on all the great questions which might come before them.* These cahiers were absolute mandates, which the repre- a sentatives bound themselves by a solemn oath to observe i. 266, 269. faithfully, and support to the utmost of their ability.1 1 Necker, i. dangers. Nor was this all. Not content with establishing an 125. electoral system which amounted almost to universal Its extreme suffrage, and permitting these numerous electors to bind their representatives à priori by absolute mandates on all the questions which might occur, Necker imposed no restraint whatever on the persons who were to be chosen as representatives. Neither property, nor age, nor marriage, were required as qualifications. Every Frenchman of twenty-five years of age, domiciled in a canton, who paid the smallest sum in taxes, was declared eligible. The consequences were disastrous in the extreme. Youths hardly escaped from school; lawyers unable to earn a livelihood in their villages; curates barely elevated either in income or knowledge above their humble flocks; physicians destitute of patients, barristers without briefs; the ardent, the needy, the profligate, the ambitious, were at once vomited forth from all quarters to co-operate in the reconstruction of the monarchy. Very few, indeed, of the assembly were possessed of any property; fewer still of any knowledge. The only restraints on human passion-knowledge, age, property, and children-were wanting in the great majority of its members; they consisted almost entirely of ardent youths, many of whom already thought themselves equal to Cicero, Brutus, or * The collection of these cahiers, in thirty-six volumes folio, is the most interesting and authentic monument which exists of the grievances which led to the Revolution. An abstract of this immense record has been published by Prudhomme, in three vols. 8vo; another by Grille, in two vols. 8vo. III. 1788. CHAP. Demosthenes, while all were resolutely bent on making their fortunes they were elected by almost universal suffrage, and subjected to the most rigorous mandates from a numerous and ignorant constituency. And yet from such a body, all classes in France, with a few individual exceptions, expected a deliverance from the evils or difficulties with which they were surrounded, and a complete regeneration of society. The King, the ministers, and courtiers, anticipated the cessation of the vexatious opposition of the parliaments, and more ready submission from a body of men who were thought to be so ill calculated to combine as the Tiers Etat; the nobles, a restoration of order to the finances, and emancipation from the public difficulties by the confiscation of the church property; the commons, liberation from every species of restraint, and boundless felicity from the prospects which would open to them in the new state of society which was approaching. When hopes so chimerical are entertained by all classes of society, and a chaos of unanimity is produced, composed of such discordant interests, it may usually be concluded that a general infatuation has seized the public mind, and that great national calamities are at hand.1 1 Lab. ii. 337, 351. 126. A second convocation of the Not ables, to determine the form of convoking the States general. Necker's influence as a minister was prodigiously increased on his restoration to power. It is hardly going too far to say, that, for good or for evil, he was omnipotent. The extreme penury of the exchequer rendered his powerful credit with the capitalists indispensable to carrying on the government; the recent and entire overthrow which the crown had received in the contest with the parliaments, rendered irresistible the influence of any minister who came in from the impulse of their victory, and was supported by their immense weight throughout the country. He was the movement leader, and all history tells us that such a legislator, in a moment of popular triumph, can do what he pleases, provided he does not visibly check the popular desires. Sensible of, perhaps |