The Old Regime and the Revolution

. 0 '^ r;!.

.^"^ ■ V -p.

/ o <, *> "■ .0 0.

\" '^^^W ■..

,s\^ «vi«.

^^.^v .%^\ THE OLD EEGIME THE REVOLUTION.

ALEXIS DE TOCQUEVILLE.

OF THE ACAD^MIE FEANgAISE, AUTHOE OP "DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA."

TRANSLATED BY JOHN BONNER, NEW YORK: HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, FEANKLIN SQUARE.

1856.

"..,, /7 j^ X. / /.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, by Harper & Brothers, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New York.

rW CONTENTS.

Preface Page 1 BOOK I. CHAPTEE I.

Contradictory Opinions formed upon the Revolution when it broke out 13 CHAPTER n.

that the fundamental and final Object of the Revolution was not, us some have supposed, to destroy religious and to weaken polit- ical Authority 18 CHAPTER ni.

That the French Revolution, though political, pursued the same Course as a religious Revolution, and why 24 CHAPTER IV.

How the same Institutions had been established over nearly all Eu- rope, and were every where falling to pieces 29 CHAPTER V. What did the French Revolution really achieve? 35 BOOK II. CHAPTER I. Why the feudal Rights were more odious to the People in France than any where else 38 CHAPTER n. That we owe "Administrative Centralization," not to the Revolution or the Empire, as some say, but to the old Regime 50 5 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER m.

That what is now called "the Guardianship of the State" {Tutelle Administrative) was an Institution of the old Regime Page 61 CHAPTER IV.

That administrative Tribunals Qa Justice Administrative) and official Irresponsibility (Garantie des Functionnaires) were Institutions of the old Regime 73 CHAPTER V.

How Centralization crept in among the old Authorities, and sup- planted without destroying them 79 CHAPTER VI. Of official Manners and Customs under the old Regime 93 CHAPTER VII. How the Capital of France had acquired more Preponderance over the Provinces, and usurped more Control over the Nation, than any other Capital in Europe 95 CHAPTER Vni.

That Frenchmen had grown more like each other than any other People 101 CHAPTER IX.

That these Men, who were so alike, were more divided than they had ever been into petty Groups, each independent of and indif- ferent to the others 106 CHAPTER X.

How the Destruction of political Liberty and Class Divisions were the Causes of all the Diseases of which the old Regime died. 124 CHAPTER XI.

Of the kind of Liberty enjoyed under the old Regime, and of its In- fluence upon the Revolution 137 CHAPTER XII.

y How the Condition of the French Peasantry was worse in some re- spects in the Eighteenth Century than it had been in the Thir- teenth, notwithstanding the Progress of Civilization 151 6 CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XIII.

How, toward the middle of the Eighteenth Century, literary Men became the leading Politicians of the Country, and of the Effects thereof Page 170 CHAPTER XIV.

How Irreligion became a general ruling Passion among Frenchmen in the Eighteenth Century, and of the Influence it exercised over the Character of the Revolution 182 CHAPTER XV. How the French sought Reforms before Liberties 192 CHAPTER XVI.

That the Reign of Louis XVI. was the most prosperous Era of the old Monarchy, and how that Prosperity really hastened the Revo- lution 206 CHAPTER XVn. How Attempts to relieve the People provoked Rebellion 218 CHAPTER XVm.

Of certain Practices by means of which the Government completed the revolutionary Education of the People 228 CHAPTER XIX.

How great administrative Changes had preceded the political Revo- lution, and of the Consequences thereof 234 CHAPTER XX.

How the Revolution sprang spontaneously out of the preceding Facts 246 Appendix 257 Notes 271-344 7 PREFACE, The book I now publisli is not ca history of the Eevolution. That history has been too brilliantly written for me to think of writing it afresh. This is a mere essay on the Revolution.

The French made, in 1789, the greatest eifort that has ever been made by any people to sever their his- tory into two parts, so to speak, and to tear open a gulf between their past and their future. In this de- sign, they took the greatest care to leave every trace of their past condition behind them; they imposed all kinds of restraints upon themselves in order to be dif- ferent from their ancestry; they omitted nothing which could disguise them.

I have always fancied that they-were less success- ful in this enterprise than has been generally believed abroad, or even supposed at home. I have always suspected that they unconsciously retained most of the sentiments, habits, and ideas which the old regime had taught them, and by whose aid they achieved the Revolution; and that, without intending it, they used its ruins as materials for the construction of their new society. Hence it seemed that the proper way of studying the Revolution was to forget, for a time, the France we see before us, and to examine, in its grave, the France that is gone. That is the task which I 11 PREFACE.

have here endeavored to perform; it has been more arduous than I had imagined.

The early ages of the monarchy, the Middle Ages, and the period of revival have been thoroughly studied; the labors of the authors who have chosen them for their theme have acquainted us not only with the events of history, but also with the laws, the customs, the spirit of the government and of the nation in those days. No one has yet thought of examining the eight- eenth century in the same close, careful manner. "We fancy that we are familiar with the French society of that age because we see clearly what glittered on its surface, and possess detailed biographies of the illus- trious characters, and ingenious or eloquent criticisms on the works of the great writers who flourished at the time. But of the manner in which public business was transacted, of the real working of institutions, of the true relative position of the various classes of society, of the condition and feelings of those classes which v^ere neither heard nor seen, of the actual opinions and customs of the day, we have only confused and fre- quently erroneous notions.

I have undertaken to grope into the heart of this old regime. It is not far distant from us in years, but the Eevolution hides it.

To succeed in the task, I have not only read the celebrated books which the eighteenth century pro- duced; I have studied many works which are compar- atively unknown, and deservedly so, but which, as their composition betrays but little art, aiford perhaps a still truer index to the instincts of the age. I have endeavored to make myself acquainted with all the PREFACE. m public documents in whicli the French expressed their opinions and their views at the approach of the E-ev- olution. I have derived much information on this head from the reports of the States, and, at a later pe- riod, from those of the Provincial Assemblies. I have freely used the cahiei'S which were presented by the three orders in 1789. These cahiers^ whose originals form a large series of folio volumes, will ever remain as the testament of the old French society, the final expression of its wishes, the authentic statement of its last will. They are a historical document that is unique.

Nor have I confined my studies to these. In coun- tries where the supreme power is predominant, very few ideas, or desires, or grievances can exist without coming before it in some shape or other. But few in- terests can be created or passions aroused that are not at some time laid bare before it. Its archives reveal not merely its own proceedings, but the movement of the whole nation. Free access to the files of the De- partment of the Interior and the various prefectures would soon enable a foreigner to know more about France than we do ourselves. In the eighteenth cen- tury, as a perusal of this work will show, the gov- ernment was already highly centralized, very power- ful, prodigiously active. It was constantly at work aiding, prohibiting, permitting this or that. It had much to promise, much to give. It exercised para- mount influence not only over the transaction of busi- ness, but over the prospects of families and the private life of individuals. None of its business was made public; hence people did not shrink from confiding to IV PEEFACE. » it their most secret infirmities. - • I have devoted much time to the study of its remains at Paris and in the provinces.* I have found in them, as I anticipated, the actual life of the old regime, its ideas, its passions, its preju- dices, its practices. I have found men speaking freely their inmost thoughts in their own language. I have thus obtained much information upon the old regime which was unknown even to the men who lived under it, for I had access to seurces which were closed to them.

As I progressed in my labors, I was surprised to find in the France of that day many features which are conspicuous in the France we have before us. I met with a host of feelings and ideas which I have always credited to the Revolution, and many habits which it is supposed to have engendered; I found on every side the roots of our modern society deeply imbedded in the old soil. The nearer I drew to 1789, the more distinctly I noticed the spirit which brought about the Revolution. The actual physiognomy of the Revolu- tion was gradually disclosed before me. Its temper, its genius were apparent; it was all there. I saw there not only the secret of its earliest efibrts, but the promise also of its ultimate results — for the Revolu- * I have made especial use of the archives of some of the greater intendants' offices, such as those of Tours, which are very complete; they refer to a very large district (generalite), placed in the centre of France, and containing a million of souls. My thanks are due to the young and able keeper of the archives, M. Grandmaison. Other in- tendants' offices, such as that of lie de France, have satisfied me that business was conducted on the same plan throughout most of the kino;dom.

PREFACE. V tion had two distinct phases: one during which the French seemed to want to destroy everj remnant of the past, another during which they tried to regain a portion of what they had thrown off. Many of the laws and political usages of the old regime which dis- appeared in 1789 reappeared some years afterward, just as some rivers bury themselves in the earth and rise to the surface at a distance, washing new shores with the old waters.

The especial objects of the work I now present to the public are to explain why the Revolution, which was impending over every European country, burst forth in France rather than elsewhere; why it issued spontaneously from the society which it was to de- stroy; and how the old monarchy contrived to fall so completely and so suddenly.

My design is to pursue the work beyond these lim- its. I intend, if I have time and my strength does not fail me, to follow through the vicissitudes of their long revolution thes^ Frenchmen with whom I have lived on such famihar terms under the old regime; to see them throwing off the shape they had borrowed from this old regime, and assuming new shapes to suit events, yet never changing their nature, or wholly disguising the old familiar features by changes of expression.

I shall first go over the period of 1789, when their affections were divided between the love of freedom and the love of equality; when they desired to estab- lish free as well as democratic institutions, and to ac- knowledge and confirm rights as well as to destroy privileges. This was an era of youth, of enthusiasm, of pride, of generous and heartfelt passions; despite VI PREFACE.

VI PREFACE.

its errors, men will remember it long, and for many a day to come it will disturb the slumbers of those who seek to corrupt or to enslave the French.

In the course of a hasty sketch of the Eevolution, I shall endeavor to show what errors, what faults, what disappointments led the French to abandon their first aim, to forget liberty, and to aspire to become the equal servants of the master of the world; how a far stron- ger and more absolute government than the one the Revolution overthrew then seized and monopolized all political power, suppressed all the liberties which had been so dearly bought, and set up in their stead empty shams; deprived electors of all means of obtaining in- formation, of the right of assemblage, and of the faculty of exercising a choice, yet talked of popular sovereign- ty; said the taxes were freely voted, when mute or en- slaved assemblies assented to their imposition; and, while stripping the nation of every vestige of self-gov- ernment, of constitutional guarantees, and of liberty of thought, speech, and the press — that is to say, of the most precious and the noblest conquests of 1789 — still dared to claim descent from that great era.

I shall stop at the period at which the work of the Eevolution appears complete, and the new society cre- ated. I shall then examine that new society. I shall try to discover wherein it resembles and wherein it differs from the society which preceded it; to ascertain what we have gained and what we have lost by the universal earthquake; and shall lastly attempt to fore- see our future prospects.

A portion of this second work Iliave roughly sketch- ed, but it is not yet fit for the public eye. Shall I be PREFACE. VU permitted to finish it? Who knows? The fate of individuals is even more obscure than that of na- tions.

I trust I have written this work without prejudice; but I do not claim to have written dispassionately. It would he hardly decent for a Frenchman to be calm when he speaks of his country, and thinks of the times. I admit that, in studying every feature of the society of other times, I have never lost sight of that which we see before us. I have tried not only to detect the disease of which the patient died, but to discover the remedy that might have saved him. I have acted like those physicians who try to surprise the vital princi- ple in each paralyzed organ. My object has been to draw a perfectly accurate, and, at the same time, an instructive picture. Whenever I have found among our ancestors any of those masculine virtues which we need so much and possess so little — a true spirit of in- dependence, a taste for true greatness, faith in ourselves and in our cause — I have brought them boldly forward; and, in like manner, whenever I have discovered in the laws, or ideas, or manners of olden time, any trace of those vices which destroyed the old regime and weak- en us to-day, I have taken pains to throw light on them, so that the sight of their mischievous effects in the past might prove a warning for the future.

In pursuing this object, I have not, I confess, allowed myself to be influenced by fears of wounding either in- dividuals or classes, or shocking opinions or recollec- tions, however respectable they may be. I have often felt regret in pursuing this course, but remorse, never. Those whom I may have offended must forgive me, in viii PREFACE.

consideration of the honesty and disinterestedness of my aim.

I may perhaps be charged with evincing in this work a most inopportune love for freedom, about which I am assured that Frenchmen have ceased to care.

I can only reply to those who urge this charge that in me the feeling is of ancient date. More than twen- ty years have elapsed since I wrote, in reference to an- other society, almost these very words.

In the darkness of the future three truths may be plainly discerned. The first is, that all the men of our day are driven, sometimes slowly, sometimes violently, by an unknown force — which may possibly be regu- lated or moderated, but can not be overcome — toward the destruction of aristocracies. The second is, that, among all human societies, those in which there exists and can exist no aristocracy are precisely those in which it will be most difficult to resist, for any length of time, the establishment of despotism. And the third is, that despotisms can never be so injurious as in so- cieties of this nature; for despotism is the form of gov- ernment which is best adapted to facilitate the devel- opment of the vices to which these societies are prone, and naturally encourages the very propensities that are indigenous in their disposition.

When men are no longer bound together by caste, class, corporate or family ties, they are only too prone to give their whole thoughts to their private interest, and to wrap themselves up in a narrow individuality in which public virtue is stifled. Despotism does not combat this tendency; on the contrary, it renders it irresistible, for it deprives citizens of all common pas- PREFACE. IX sions, mutual necessities, need of a common tmderstand- ing, opportunity for combined action: it ripens them, so to speak, in private life. Tliej had a tendency to hold themselves aloof from each other: it isolates them. They looked coldly on each other: it freezes their souls.

In societies of this stamp, in which there are no fixed landmarks, every man is constantly spurred on by a desire to rise and a fear of falling. And as money, which is the chief mark by which men are classified and divided one from the other, fluctuates incessantly, passes from hand to hand, alters the rank of individu- als, raises families here, lowers them there, every one is forced to make constant and des,perate efforts to ac- quire or retain it. Hence the ruling passions become a desire for wealth at all cost, a taste for business, a love of gain, and a liking for comfort and material pleasures. These passions pervade all classes, not ex- cepting those which have hitherto been strangers to them. If they are not checked they will soon ener- vate and degrade them all. Now, it is essential to despotism to encourage and foster them. Debilitating passions are its natural allies; they serve to divert at- tention from public affairs, and render the very name of revolution terrible. Despotism alone can supply the secrecy and darkness which cupidity requires to be at ease, and which embolden men to brave dishonor for the sake of fraudulent gain. These passions would have been strong in the absence of despotism: with its aid they are paramount.

On the other hand, liberty alone can combat the vices which are natural to this class of societies, and arrest their downward progress. Nothing but liberty A2 X PEEPACE.

can draw men forth from the isolation into which their independence naturally drives them — can compel them to associate together, in order to come to a common understanding, to debate, and to compromise together on their joint concerns. Liberty alone can free them from money-worship, and divert them from their petty, every-day business cares, to teach them and make them feel that there is a country above and beside them. It alone awakens more energetic and higher passions than the love of ease, provides ambition with nobler aims than the acquisition of wealth, and yields the light which reveals, in clear outline, the virtues and the vices of mankind.

Democratic societies which are not free may be rich, refined, ornate, even magnificent, and powerful in pro- portion to the weight of their homogeneous mass; they may develop private virtues, produce good family-men, honest merchants, respectable landowners, and even good Christians — ^for their country is not of this world, and it is the glory of their religion that it produces them in the most corrupt societies and under the worst governments — theEoman empire during its decline was full of such as these; but there are things which such societies as those I speak of can never produce, and these are great citizens, and, above all, a great people. I will go farther; I do not hesitate to affirm that the common level of hearts and minds will never cease to sink so long as equality and despotism are combined.

This is what I thought and wrote twenty years ago. I acknowledge that nothing has since happened that could lead me to think or write otherwise. As I made known my good opinion of liberty when it was PREFACE. XI in favor, I can not be blamed for adhering to that opinion now that it is in disgrace.

I must, moreover, beg to assure my opponents that I do not differ from them as widely as they perhaps imagine. Where is the man whose soul is naturally so base that he would rather be subject to the caprices of one of his fellow-men than obey laws which he had helped to make himself, if he thought his nation suffi- ciently virtuous to make a good use of liberty? I do not think such a man exists. Despots acknowledge that liberty is an excellent thing; but they want it all for themselves, and maintain that the rest of the world is unworthy of it. Thus there is no difference of opin- ion in reference to liberty; we differ only in our ap- preciation of men; and thus it may be strictly said that one's love for despotism is in exact proportion to one's contempt for one's country. I must beg to be allowed to wait a little longer before I embrace that sentiment.

I may say, I think, without undue self-laudation, that this book is the fruit of great labor. I could point to more than one short chapter that has cost me over a year's work. I could have loaded my pages with foot-notes, but I have preferred inserting a few only, and placing them at the end of the volume, with a reference to the pages to which they apply. They contain examples and proofs of the facts stated in the text. I could furnish many more if this book induced any one to take the trouble of asking for them.

THE OLD REGIME AND THE REVOLUTION.

BOOK FIRST. CHAPTER I.

CONTKADICTORT OPESTIONS FORMED UPON THE REVOLUTION "WHEN IT BROKE OUT.

PHILOSOPHERS and statesmen may learn a val- uable lesson of modesty from the history of our Revolution, for there never were events greater, better prepared, longer matured, and yet so little foreseen.

With all his genius, Frederick the Great had no perception of what was at hand. He touched the Rev- olution, so to speak, but he did not see it. More than this, while he seemed to be acting according to his own impulse, he was, in fact, its forerunner and agent. Yet he did not recognize its approach; and when at length it appeared full in view, the new and extraordinary characteristics which distinguished it from the common run of revolutions escaped his notice.

Abroad, it excited universal curiosity. It gave birth to a vague notion that a new era was at hand. Na- tions entertained indistinct hopes of changes and re- forms, but no one suspected what they were to be. Princes and ministers did not even feel the confused 14 THE OLD EEGIME 14 THE OLD EEGIME presentiment wliich it stirred in the minds of their sub- jects. Thej viewed it simply as one of those chron- ic diseases to which every national constitution is sub- ject, and whose only eiFect is to pave the way for po- litical enterprises on the part of neighbors. "When they spoke truly about it, it was unconsciously. When the principal sovereigns of Germany proclaimed at Pil- nitz, in 1791, that all the powers of Europe were men- aced by the danger which threatened royalty in France, they said what was true, but at bottom they were far from thinking so. Secret dispatches of the time prove that these expressions were only intended as clever pre- texts to mask their real purposes, and disguise them from the public eye. They knew perfectly well — or thought they knew — that the French Revolution was a mere local and ephemeral accident, which might be turned to account. In this faith they formed plans, made preparations, contracted secret alliances; quar- reled among themselves about the booty they saw be- fore them; were reconciled, and again divided; were ready, in short, for every thing except that which was going to happen.

Englishmen, enlightened by the experience of their own history, and trained by a long enjoyment of polit- ical liberty, saw, through a thick mist, the steady ad- vances of a great revolution; but they could not dis- cern its form, or foresee the influence it was destined to exercise over the world and over their own interests. Arthur Young, who traveled through France just be- fore the outbreak of the Eevolution, was so far from suspecting its real consequences that he rather feared it might increase the power of the privileged classes.

AND THE REVOLUTION. 15 "As for the nobility iind the clergy," says he, "if this revolution enhances their preponderance, I fear it will do more harm than good."

Burke's mind was illumined by the hatred he bore to the Eevolution from the first; still he doubted for a time. His first inference was, that France would be weakened, if not annihilated. ' ' France is at this time, " he said, " in a political light, to be considered as ex- punged out of the system of Europe. Whether she can ever appear in it again as a leading power is not easy to determine; but at present I consider 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 hellis Jloruisse audivi- Tnics — ' We have heard that the Gauls too were once noted in war,' may be the remark of the present gen- eration, as it was of an ancient one."

Men judged as loosely on the spot. On the eve of the outbreak, no one in France knew what Avould be the result. Among all the contemporaneous cahiers, I have only found two which seem to mark any ap- prehension of the people. Fears are exj)ressed that royalty, or the court, as it was still called, will retain undue preponderance. The States-General are said to be too feeble, too short-lived. Alarm is felt lest they should suffer violence. The nobility is very u.neasy on this bead. Several cahiers affirm that " the Swiss troops will swear never to attack the citizens, even in case of affray or revolt." If the States-General are free, all the abuses may be corrected; the necessary reform is extensive, but easy.

Meanwhile the Eevolution pursued its course. It 16 THE OLD EEGIME was not till the strange and terrible physiognomy of the monster's head was visible; till it destroyed civil as well as political institutions, manners, customs, laws, and even the mother tongue; till, having dashed in pieces the machine of government, it shook the foundations of society, and seemed anxious to assail even God himself; till it overflowed the frontier, and, by dint of methods unknown before, by new systems of tactics, by murderous maxims, and " armed "5pin- ions" (to use the language of Pitt), overthrew the land- marks of empires, broke crowns, and crushed sub- jects, while, strange to say, it won them over to its side: it was not till then that a change came over men's minds. Then sovereigns and statesmen began to see that what they had taken for a mere every-day accident in history was an event so new, so contrary to all form^er experience, so widespread, so monstrous and incomprehensible, that the human mind was lost in endeavoring to examine it. Some supposed that this unknown power, whose strength nothing could en- hance and nothing diminish, which could not be check- ed, and which could not check itself, was destined to lead human society to complete and final dissolution. M. de Maistre, in 1797, observed that "the French Eevolution has a satanic character." On the other hand, others discerned the hand of God in the Eevo- lution, and inferred a gracious design of Providence to people France ^nd the world with a new and better species. Several writers of that day seem to have been exercised by a sort of religious terror, such as Salvian felt at the sight of the barbarians. Burke, pursuing his idea, exclaims, " Deprived of the old gov- ernment, deprived in a manner of all government.