"I see," said the minister in 1766, "that the most difficult taxes to collect are those which are due by nobles and privileged per- sons, in consequence of the consideration which the tax-collectors feel bound to pay to these persons. It has resulted from this that they are heavily in arrears on their capitation-tax and twentieths (the taxes which they paid in common with the people).
Note m, page 125.
Arthur Young, in his Journey in 1789, draws a picture in which the condition of the two societies is so agreeably sketched and so skillfully set that I can not resist giving it here.
In traveling through France during the emotion caused by the capture of the Bastille, Young was arrested in a village by a mob, NOTES. 305 who, seeing no cocarde on his hat, were about to drag him to jail. To get out of the scrape, Young improvises the following little speech: " ' Gentlemen, it has just been said that the taxes are to be paid just as before. The taxes must be paid, certainly, but not as be- fore. They must be paid as they are in England. We have many more taxes than you; but the Third Estate, the people, pays none of them; they fall upon the rich. In my country, windows pay a tax; but a man who has only six in his house pays nothing. A seignior pays his twentieths and the taille, but the owner of a small garden escapes scot free. Rich men pay for their horses, their carriages, their servants, for the right of shooting their own par- tridges; but small landholders know nothing of these taxes. More than this: we have, in England, a tax that is levied on the rich for the maintenance of the poor. If, then, taxes are still to be paid, they must be paid on a new plan. The English plan is the best. ' " As my bad French," adds Young, " suited their patois well enough, they understood what I said. They applauded every word of this speech, and concluded that I might be a good fellow — an impression which I confirmed by crying Vive le Tiers! They then let me pass with a hurrah."
Note n, page 127. The church of X., election of ChoUet, was falling into ruin. Measures were being taken to repair it, according to the plan in- dicated by the Order of 16th December, 1684, that is to say, by a tax on all the citizens. When the collectors proceed to levy the tax, the Marquis of X., seignior of the parish, declares that, as he undertakes to repair the choir without assistance, he can not be expected to contribute to the tax. The other inhabitants reply very reasonably that, as seignior and large tithe-holder (he possess- ed, no doubt, the tithes enfeoffed), he was bound to repair the choir, and that he was by no means, on that account, relieved from his obligation to contribute to the other repairs. On reference to the intendant, he decides against the marquis and in favor of the col- lectors. The records of the affair contain more than ten letters of the marquis, each more pressing than the last, begging that the other people of the parish be made to pay in his stead, and con- descending to call the intendant " monseigneur," and even to "sup- plicate him."
306 NOTES.
Note o, page 128.
EXAMPLE OF THE MANNER IN WHICH THE GOVERNMENT OF THE OLD REGIME RESPECTED ACQUIRED RIGHTS, FORMAL CONTRACTS, AND CITY OR ASSOCIATE LIBERTIES.
Royal declaration " suspending, in time of war, repayment of all loans made to the crown by cities, bourgs, colleges, commmiities, hospitals, poor-houses, corporations of artisans and tradesmen, and others, for the payment of which town or other dues were pledged; interest to accrue on the same."
This was not only suspending payment at the time fixed, but laying hands on the security pledged for the payment of the loan. Similar measures were common under the government of the old regime; they could never have occurred in a country where a free press or free assemblies existed. Compare these proceedings with those which have taken place in England and America in the like circumstances. Here the contempt for right was not less flagrant than the contempt for local liberties.
Note 'p,page 131.
The case cited in the text is not the only one in which the priv- ileged classes perceived that they were affected by the feudal dues which weighed upon the peasantry. An agricultural society, com- posed wholly of privileged persons, said, thirty years before the Revolution, " Irredeemable rents, whether ground-rents or feudal rents at- taching upon land, become so onerous to the debtor when they are considerable, that they ruin him and the land too. He is forced to neglect his farm, for he can not effect loans on a property so burdened, nor can he find a purchaser for it. If the rent were redeemable, he would soon find a lender to advance money to pay it off, or a purchaser to extinguish it. One is always glad to im- prove a property of which one believes one's self peaceable owner. It would be of infinite service to agriculture if a means could be found of rendering these rents redeemable. Many feudal seigniors are convinced of this, and would gladly concur in any arrange- ment for the purpose. It would therefore be desirable to indicate a plan for redeeming all these ground-rents."
Note q, page 133. All public functionaries, including the agent of the tax-farmers, enjoyed exemptions from taxes. The privilege was granted them NOTES. 307 by the ordinance of 1681. An intendant says, in a letter address- ed to the minister in 1783, " The niost numerous class of privi- leged persons consists of clerks of the gabel, of traites, of the do- main, of the post, of aids, and other excise of all kinds. One or more of these are to be found in every parish."
The object was to prevent the ministers from proposing to the Council a measure to extend the exemption from taxes to the clerks and servants of these privileged agents. The farmers-gen- eral, says the intendant, are always asking for extensions of the privilege, in order to obtain clerks without paymg them a salary.
Note r, page 133. Venal offices were not wholly unknown abroad. In Germany some small sovereigns had introduced the system; but they had applied it to but few offices, and these subordinate ones. The sys- tem was carried out on a grand scale in France only.
Note s, page 138. One must not be surprised — though it certainly seems surpris- ing— to see functionaries of the old government, closely connected with the administration, go to law before the Parliament about the limits of their respective powers. The fact is easily explained: the questions at issue were questions of public administration, but they were also questions of private property. What here appears to be an encroachment of the judiciary was, in fact, nothing but a consequence of the fault which the government committed in selling offices. All places being bought, and their incumbents be- ing paid by fees, it was impossible to alter the functions of an office without injuring individual rights which had been purchased for a valuable consideration. One example out of a thousand: the lieutenant general of police of Mans institutes an action against the financial department of that city to claim the right of paving the streets, and obtaining fees thereon, that being, he says, part of the police of the streets, which devolves upon him. The de- partment replies that the very title of its commission intrusts it with the paving of the streets. This time it is not the king's council which decides between them; as the point involved is chiefly the interest of the capital invested by the lieutenant in the purchase of his office, the case goes before the Parliament. In- stead of being a government question, it is a civil suit.
308 NOTES.
Note t, page 140.
ANALYSIS OF THE CAHIERS OF THE NOBILITY IN 1789.
The French Revolution is the only one, I believe, at the begin- ning of which the different classes of society were enabled to pre- sent an authentic account Of the ideas they had conceived, and express the feelings which animated them, before the Revolution had distorted or modified those ideas and feelings. This authen- tic account was recorded, as is known, in the cahiers which the three orders drew up in 1789. These cahiers or memoires were drawn up in perfect freedom, in the midst of the widest publicity, by each of the three orders; they were the fruit of long discus- sion by the parties in interest, and ripe deliberation by their au- thors; for in those days, when the government spoke to the na- tion, it did not undertake to answer its own questions. At the time the cahiers were composed, the principal parts of them were collected and published in three volumes, which are to be found in all libraries. The originals are deposited in the national ar- chives, and with them the reports of the assemblies which drew them up, and a portion of the correspondence between M. Necker and his agents in reference to the subject. This collection forms a long series of folio volumes, and is the most precious document we have on the subject of ancient France. All who desire to be- come acquainted with the spirit of our forefathers at the time of the Revolution should consult it without delay.
I had imagined that perhaps the printed extract, in three vol- umes, which I have mentioned above, was a one-sided performance, and an unfaithful reflection of this immense collection; but I find, on comparing the two, that the smaller work is a correct minia- ture of the greater.
The following extract from the cahiers of the nobility shows the spirit which animated the majority of that body. It shows which of their old privileges the nobility desired at all hazards to keep, which they were half inclined to abandon, and which they proposed of their own accord to sacrifice. It discloses especially the views which pervaded the whole body on the subject of polit- ical liberty. Curious and melancholy spectacle!
Individual Rights. — The nobility demand, in the first place, that an explicit declaration of the rights of man be made, and that that declaration bear witness to the liberty and secure the safety of all men.
Personal LinERTY. — They desire that the serfdom of the NOTES. 309 glebe be abolished wherever it may still exist, and that means be sought for the extinction of the slave-trade and negro slavery; that all be free to travel whithersoever they will, and to reside where they please, within or without the kingdom, without being liable to arbitrary arrest; that the police regulations be amended, and that the police be under control of the magistracy, even in case of riot; that no one be arrested and judged except by his natural judges; that, in consequence, state prisons and other illegal places of detention be suppressed. Some demand the destruction of the Bastille. The nobility of Paris insist warmly on this point.
All letters of cachet should be prohibited. If the danger of the state requires the arrest of a citizen who can not be handed over directly to the ordinary courts of justice, measures must be taken to prevent injustice, either by notifying the Council of State, or in some other way.
The nobility desire that all special commissions, irregular courts, privileges of com?nitiimus, reprieves, be abolished; that the most severe penalties be laid upon all who execute or order the execu- tion of an arbitrary command; that the ordinary courts — which alone should be preserved — take all necessary measures to se- cure individual liberty, especially in criminal matters; that justice be administered gratuitously, and useless jurisdictions abolished. One cahier says, " Magistrates were made for the people, not the people for magistrates." They demand that an honorary counsel and advocates for the poor be established in every bailiwick; that all examinations be public, and prisoners be allowed to defend themselves; that in criminal matters the prisoner be provided wdth a counsel, and the judge assisted by a number of citizens of the same order as the prisoner, who shall decide upon the fact of the crime or misdemeanor charged (reference is here made to the constitution of England); that penalties be proportioned to of- fenses, and uniform; that capital punishment be employed more rarely, and all corporal punishments, torture, &c., be abolished; that the condition of prisoners be improved, especially those who are confined before their trial.
The cahiers demand that an effort be made to respect individual liberty in the recruiting service both of soldiers and sailors. It should be allowable to avoid military service by paying a sum of money. No lots should be drawn save in the presence of deputies of the three orders. Finally, an attempt should be made to recon- cile military discipline and subordination with the rights of the 310 NOTES.
citizen and the freeman. Blows with the flat of the sword should be forbidden.
Liberty and Inviolability of Property. — Property should be inviolable, and should never be molested save for the necessities of the public weal. In such cases the government should pay a high price, and that promptly. Confiscations should be abolished.
Liberty of Trade, Labor, and Industry. — Freedom of labor and trade should be secured. In consequence, all monopolies should be taken from trade-companies, as well as other privileges of the kind. No custom-houses should exist except on the frontier.
Liberty of Religion. — The Catholic faith shall be the only dominant religion in France, but all other religions shall be toler- ated, and persons who are not Catholics shall be reinstated in their properties and civil rights.
Liberty of the Press, Inviolability of Letters in the Post-office. — The liberty of the press shall be secured, and a law shall fix beforehand the restrictions that may be established in the interest of the public. No works but such as treat of relig- ious doctrine shall be liable to ecclesiastical censorship; in the case of all others, it shall be sufiicient that the names of the author and printer are known. Many demand that charges against the press be tried before jury.
All the cahiers insist energetically on the inviolability of secrets confided to the post, so that private letters may never be brought in accusation against individuals. The opening of letters, say they, bluntly, is the most odious form of espionage, as it violates the public faith.
Education. — The cahiers of the nobility confine themselves to recommending that all proper means be taken to spread education, both in cities and in the country, and that each boy be taught with a view to his future vocation. They insist on the necessity of teaching children the political rights and duties of the citizen, and suggest that a catechism on the principal points of the Constitution be used in schools. They do not, however, point out any means to be used to facilitate and spread education. They merely de- mand educational establishments for the children of the poor no- bility.
Care to be taken of the People. — Many of the cahiers de- mand that the people be treated with more consideration. They exclaim against the police regulations, in virtue of which they say hosts of mechanics and useful citizens are daily thrust into prisons and jails without any regular commitment, and often on mere sus- Nt)TEfcj. 311 Nt)TEfcj. 311 picions, a manifest violation of natural liberty. All the cahiers demand that coriees be definitely abolished. A majority of baili- wicks desire that rights of banality and toll be made redeemable. Many demand that the collection of various feudal dues be ren- dered less oppressive, and that the freehold duty be abolished. One cahier observes that the government is interested in facili- tating the purchase and sale of lands. This is precisely the rea- son that will soon be urged for abolishing at a blow all seignio- rial rights, and throwing all mainmortable lands into the market. Many cahiers ask that the right of pigeon-houses be rendered less prejudicial to agriculture. As for the establishments for the pres- ervation of the king's game, known by the name of captainries, they demand their immediate abolition, as being subversive of the rights of property. They desire to see, in lieu of the present taxes, new ones established which shall be less onerous to the people.
The nobility demand that an effort be made to disseminate plen- ty and comfort throughout the rural districts; that looms and fac- tories of coarse stuffs be established in the villages, so as to occu- py the country-people during the idle season; that in each baili- wick public store-houses be founded, under the inspection of the provincial governments, to provide for seasons of famine, and sus- tain the regularity of prices; that attempts be made to improve agriculture and better the condition of the country parts; that more public works be undertaken, and especially that marshes be drain- ed, and means taken to guard against inundations, &c.; finally, that special encouragements be offered to agriculture and trade in all the provinces.
The cahiers suggest that, instead of the present hospitals, small establishments of the kind be founded in every district; that the poor-houses be abolished, and replaced by work-houses; that a charitable fund be placed at the disposal of the Provincial States; that surgeons, physicians, and midwives be appointed for every county to tend the poor gratuitously, and paid by the province; that the Courts of Justice should always be open to the poor, free of charge; that thought be taken for the establishment of blind, deaf and dumb asylums, foundling-hospitals, &c.
In all these matters the nobility express their general views as to what reforms are needed; they do not enter into details. It is easy to see that they have been less frequently brought into con- tact with the poor than the lower order of clergy, and that, having seen less of their sufferings, they have reflected less on the sub- ject of a remedy.
312 NOTES.
Of Eligibility to Office, of the Hierarchy of Ranks, AND OF THE HONORARY PRIVILEGES OF THE NoBILITY. -^ It is chiefly, or, rather, it is only when they come to deal with distinc- tions of rank and class divisions that the nobles turn their backs on the prevailing spirit of reform. They make important conces- sions, but, on the whole, they adhere to the spirit of the old regime. They feel that they are fighting for life. Their cahiers thus de- mand energetically that the nobility and the clergy be maintained as distinct orders. They even desire that a method be devised for preserving the purity of the order of the nobility; that, for in- stance, the practice of selling titles or coupling them with certain offices be prohibited, and that rank be the reward of long and mer- itorious services rendered to the state. They wish that all the false nobles could be found out and prosecuted. All the cahiers, in short, demand that the nobility be maintained in all its honors. Some think it would be well for men of rank to wear a distinctive badge.
Nothing could be more characteristic than such a demand; nothing could indicate more plainly the similarity between the noble and the commoner. Generally speaking, the nobility, while abandoning many of their beneficial rights, cling with anxiety and warmth to those which are purely honorary. They want not only to preserve those which they possess, but also to invent new ones. So conscious were they that they were being dragged into the vortex of democracy: so terribly did they dread perishing there. Singular fact! Their instinct warned them of the danger, but they never perceived it.
As to the distribution of office, the nobility demand that posts in the magistracy be no longer sold, but that any citizen of suit- able age and capacity be eligible as a candidate to be presented by the nation to the king. In respect to military rank, a majority of the cahiers are against excluding the Third Estate, and con- ceive that a man who has deserved well of his country ought to be able to attain the highest rank. Several cahiers say, " The order of the nobility disapproves all laws which close the door of military preferment to the order of the Third Estate." Some few, however, suggest that noblemen alone should have the right of entering the army as officers without passing through the inferior grades. Nearly all the cahiers demand that uniform rules be es- tablished with regard to promotion, that advancement be not whol- ly obtained by favor, and that, with the exception of the highest posts, promotion proceed by seniority.
NOTES. 313 As for clerical functions, they demand that elections be re-estab- lished for the distribution of livings, or, at all events, that the king appoint a committee to guide him in distributing ecclesiastical preferment.
They say that henceforth pensions must be granted with more discrimination, and not accumulated in certain families; that no citizen must receive two pensions, or draw pay for two offices at once; that survivorships must be abolished.
Church and Clergy. — When they have done with their own rights and peculiar constitution, and turn to the privileges and con- stitution of the Church, the nobility are not so timid; they have a very sharp eye for abuses.
They demand that the clergy be deprived of all exemptions from taxes; that they pay their debts, and do not call upon the nation to pay them; that the monastic orders be thoroughly re- formed. Most of the cahiers declare that these institutions have departed from the spirit of their founders.
Most of the bailiwicks desire that tithes be rendered less in- jurious to agriculture; several demand their entire abolition. One cahier says that " tithes are for the most part exacted by those curates who give themselves the least trouble to supply their flocks with spiritual food." The first Order, as is seen, handled the sec- ond unceremoniously. Nor was it more respectful in dealing with the Church itself. Many bailiwicks formally assert the right of the States-General to suppress certain religious orders, and ap- ply their property to other uses. Seventeen bailiwicks declare that the States-General may regulate ecclesiastical discipline. Many say that there are too many fete-days; that they injure ag- riculture, and favor drunkenness; that, in consequence, a great number of them must be suppressed, and Sundays kept instead.
Political Rights. — As to these, the cahiers recognize the right of all Frenchmen to take part directly or indirectly in the government, that is to say, to be electors and eligible. But this right is restricted by the distinction of ranks; that is to say, no one can be elected but by and for his Order. This principle laid out, representation should be so devised as to secure to each Order an active share in the public affairs.
Opinions are divided as to the way of taking votes in the as- sembly of the States-General: a majority advocate voting by Or- der, others tliink this rule ought not to apply to questions of tax- ation, and others, again, object to it altogether. These latter say, " Each member shall have a vote, and all questions shall be deo 314 NOTES, o 314 NOTES, cided by a majority of votes. This is the only rational plan, and the only one that can extinguish that esprit de corps which has been the only source of our misfortunes, draw men together, and lead them to the result which the nation is entitled to expect of an assembly in which patriotism and the virtues are enlightened by learning." Still, as this innovation might be fraught with dan- ger if hastily introduced in the present state of the public mind, many are for postponing its adoption to subsequent assemblies of the States-General. In any event, the nobility demand that each order preserve the dignity that is meet in Frenchmen; that, con- sequently, the old humiliating forms which were imposed on the Third Estate — such as bending the knee — ^be abolished. One ca- hier says that the " sight of one man on his knees before another is offensive to the dignity of man, and indicates an unnatural in- equality among men whose essential rights are the same.".
Of the form of Government and its Constitutional Prin- ciples.— As to the form of government, the nobility demand the maintenance of royalty, the preservation of legislative, judicial, and executive powers in the hands of the king, but, at the same time, the establishment of fundamental laws for the purpose of guarding the rights of the nation against the exercise of arbi- trary pov/er.
Consequently, all the cahiers proclaim that the nation is entitled to be represented in the States-General, which body must be nu- merous enough to secure its independence. They desire that these States meet at periodical intervals, and at every change of mon- arch without special summons. Many bailiwicks express a wish to see this assembly permanent. If the States-General are not convened at the time appointed, it ought to be lawful to refuse to pay taxes. Some cahiers propose that during the interval between the sessions of the States a small committee be intrusted with the duty of watching the administration; but the bulk oppose this scheme flatly, on the ground that such a committee would be un- constitutional. The reason they allege is curious. They say there would be reason to fear that so small a body could easily be seduced by government.
The nobility deny to ministers the right of dissolving the as- sembly, and propose that they be prosecuted before the courts when they disturb it with their intrigues; they desire that no of- ficial, or person in any way dependent on government, shall be a deputy; that the persons of deputies shall be inviolable, and that they shall not be liable to account for opinions expressed in de- NOTES. 315 bate; finally, that all sittings of the assembly shall be public, and that the nation be made a spectator by printing the debates.
The nobility unanimously demand that the principles which must govern the state administration be applied to the administration of every portion of the national territory; hence, that in every prov- ince, district, and parish, assemblies be established composed of members freely elected for a limited period.
Many cahiers think that the offices of intendant and receiver- general should be abolished; all are of opinion that thenceforth the business of distributing taxes, and managing provincial busi- ness, should be left to the provincial assemblies. They advise that a similar plan be adopted with regard to county and parochial assembhes, which henceforth should be under the control of the Provincial States.