Every principle was pushed out to its greatest extent,-the speculation of the philosopher was not hampered at each step by the difficulty of practical application. These abstract speculations were like theoretic mechanics, who sit in their closets and contemplate diagrams and figures, representing levers, pulleys, &c., with all the accuracy of mathematic precision, and never reflect that, in applying them to practice, it is necessary to allow for friction and resistance. When, therefore, the French Revolution came, and the evils of government were at last to be corrected, unfortunately for France, there was nothing but this utopian philosophy to shed light on the path of the revolution. When the power of the old government had passed away, and the nation was suddenly called on to construct a new one, then did French philosophy, which had hitherto been standing aloof from the actual government in all the nakedness of metaphysic speculation, suddenly descend into the political arena, exhibiting her abstract theories and utopian systems, as models for practical statesmen. Carlyle speaks of the national assembly as "twelve hundred individuals, with the gospel of Jean Jacques Rousseau in their pockets, congregating in the name. of twenty-five millions, with full assurance of faith to make the constitution." (II. 60.) Unhappily, too, there was but little in the by-gone history of the government for the eye of patriotism to rest on. Few were the Frenchmen who could exclaim, in regard to their institutions, like the English patriots, nolumus leges anglia mutare. They had no idea of welding and morticing a few of the new principles into the old system, but were disposed to tear down too much of the old fabric, in order that they might rear up a new one after the most approved models. Hence, the constant and glaring violation by the national assembly of that conservative maxim of Erasmus, so applicable to all changes in government, "festina lente."

15. American Revolution. In speaking of the events which exercised an important bearing on the French Revolution, we must not forget to mention the Declaration of Independence by the thirteen British North American Colonies, and their subsequent revolutionary struggle of seven years. This struggle commenced at the time that the Parliaments of Paris were resisting the monarchial power in France,—at the time when the spirit of inquiry was fast liberating the ideas of the age. It was, in part, at least, the application and

realization of those principles of government, so fraught with hope and interest, which the philosophers, particularly those of France, were so enthusiastically propagating. The assistance lent by France to the Americans, in their struggle with Great Britain, caused the French, of course, to take a deeper and closer interest in our struggle and our government. The characters, too, which our revolution produced, had a most wonderful influence on France. What people could fail to have confidence in principles and institutions which had produced Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, and we may almost say La Fayette. When Franklin was at the Court of Versailles, he became the rage in France. A perfect mania existed to see and converse with him, and to obtain these coveted advantages, all ranks and classes contended with the most violent eagerness. His open and ingenuous character won over all hearts to his cause, and none, we are told, who had the gratification of listening to the persuasive eloquence of this highly gifted man, hesitated for one moment, to wish well to the American cause. His very dress had its influence. Let us listen, for a moment, to the testimony of one of the most beautiful, most gay and dissolute women of the French court.-"He was a man advanced

in years, tall, and his hair quite white. He wore neither powder nor sword, and was dressed in a broad, square cut, brown coat, without any kind of ornament, square-toed shoes, tied with large bows, a dark colored waistcoat, a broad round hat turned up at the sides; in his hand he held a thick ivory headed walking stick; and although this costume neither partook of the foppery of our petits maitres, nor the heavy grandeur of our financiers, its very simplicity, charmed and heightened as it was by the pleasing and graceful manner of the wearer, induced a comparison between the talented man, who now appeared before us, and our own statesmen, by no means to the credit of the latter."

16. Causes which led to the convocation of the States General. The meeting of the States General, 5th May, 1789, is universally considered as the commencement of the revolution. The immediate cause of the convocation was the embarrassed condition of the government, caused by the impossibility of raising a revenue adequate to the national exigencies. The ruinously long and expensive wars of Louis XIV., the disgraceful wars of Louis XV., with the still more disgraceful administration and disbursement of

revenue, the expensive wars of Louis XVI., in behalf of the American Revolution, had all contributed to swell the debt and the burthens of France to an intolerable height.* Ministers had pursued the ruinous system of borrowing money to satisfy the demands of the government. This system, however, only put off the evil day to make it come at last with an aggravated pressure. Capitalists soon saw the game that was playing, and distrusted the government. The more the minister borrowed, the more ruinous were the terms on which his loans were made. Besides, the parliaments often refused to register the edicts for loans or for additional taxes. Beds of justice would be held and the registry would be enforced, or the refractory members would be banished. The people, of course, supported the parlia ment. This struggle became warm, and threatened a revolution. Colonne at last saw that it was impossible to continue the system of increasing taxes on the people, or of borrowing from the capitalists. The people could not and would not bear any more, the capitalists would not lend, the parliaments would not register. Under these circumstances he determined to call together the notables, or representatives of the privileged classes, and to ask them to make up the deficit by taxing themselves. But they merely examined into the finances, saw the alarming condition of the country, threw the whole blame on the minister, and refused to tax themselves. Cardinal de Brienne, who headed the opposition to Colonne, in the assembly of the notables, was then put at the head of the ministry, under the vain belief that the refusal of the notables to tax themselves arose from their hostility to Colonne. The notables, however, still refused to raise the requisite supplies. The minister then tried

*The court of Louis XVI., in point of morals, stood greatly higher than that of Louis XV. But there was one vice, that of gambling, carried to a much more disgraceful extent by the former than the latter, and Marie, Antoinette, the Queen, is principally responsible for introducing the fashion. We are told that the court became, at last, one vast gulf of ruinous play, where money, jewels, estates, were staked and sold. Married and single alike shared in this gambling fury, and Paris looked with horror on the amusements of Versailles. Necker, at length, told the king of the ruinous state in which it would involve the finances, and implored him to put a stop to the practice. The king replied-"Tis merely the fancy of a female under the queen's circumstances (she was pregnant) and will cease after her delivery." "Then the delivery of her majesty will be that of the nation also," rejoined Necker. But, unhappily, the delivery and recovery too of the queen came, without stopping this most ruinous of vices. (Mem. D. IV. 126.)

the old system of taxing the people and negociating loans. The parliament refused to register. He then tried the bold expedient of stripping the parliament of all political right, and introducing a new body in its stead, the cours pleniere, filled with the creatures of the court.

The cours pleniere was detested by the people,-its decisions were every where resisted,-anarchy was rapidly rising in the land, the king was obliged to yield. The deficit in the finances augmented,-the interest on the national debt was unpaid, and a national bankruptcy was threatened ;some new expedient must be tried, or all would be lost. The convocation of the States General was talked of, and immediately all parties demanded it, as the great panacea to cure the disorders of the state, and Necker, one of the most popular financiers in the kingdom, was called to the head of the ministry. The parliament of Paris was in favor of the States General, because its continual opposition to the government had, at last, made it friendly to any power that bade fair successfully to resist the king, and it believed, moreover, that its own power and importance would be enhanced by the measure. The nobility acquiesced under the impression that they would have, in this body, the same ascendancy which they had generally possessed in more feudal times, and that it might be the means of regaining their long lost political power. The king, in the goodness of his heart, hoped it might be the means of raising the requisite supplies and restoring tranquillity. The States General were convoked, and the 5th May, 1789, fixed as the period of their meeting. Thus, says Thiers, the first authorities of the state exhibited the singular spectacle of usurpers disputing the possession of an object, before the face of the rightful owner, and, at last, calling upon him to act as judge between them.

17. Meeting of the States General. Dispute about orders. Comparison with former bodies of that name. In the States General, the three orders of the kingdom were representedthe nobles, the clergy, and tiers etat. It was provided, that the latter should have as many representatives as both the others combined, and this was the only point fixed on before the meeting. As soon as they assembled and proceeded to the verification of their powers, the question came up, whether they should sit together in one chamber and vote per capita, or, whether they should form three separate bodies, each with a negative on the proceedings of the other. As

is well known, the representatives of the tiers etat at last determined, 17th June, 1789, to form themselves into a National Assembly and proceeded to business. They were joined at first by a portion only of the nobles and clergy. Thus, did the tiers etat suddenly, from political insignificance, rise into political omnipotence. The baptism day of democracy, and the extreme unction day of feudalism had come. (C. I, 135.) How had the times changed since the last meeting of the States General in 1614! How much had the prospects of the tiers etat brightened! In 1614, in the language of Abbe Seiyes, it was nothing,-in 1789 it had suddenly become every thing. It is interesting to recur, for a moment, to some particulars concerning the meeting of 1614. The speaker of the tiers etat was then obliged to address the king on his knees, while those of the clergy and nobility addressed him standing. When the speaker of tiers etat, M. de Mesme, addressing the nobles and clergy in behalf of his order, ventured to declare France to be the common mother of all, and that the three estates were three brothers, nursed at the same bosom, of which the tiers etat was the youngest, Baron de Senecci, in the name of the nobility, rebuked him, and told him tiers etat had no right to fraternity, being neither of the same blood, nor of equal virtue. They sat in different bodies. The clergy required permission to collect tythes of all fruit and corn,-to be freed from excise duties and the expense of repairing the roads. The nobility demanded all the principal offices of state for themselves, and that the plebeians (roturiers) should be forbidden the use of guns, pistols, and even dogs, unless houghed, to prevent their indulging in the chase. They required augmentation of seignoral duties to the proprietors of fiefs,-that all pensions to the tiers etat should be suppressed,-that they should wear a different dress from that of noble families, &c., (De S. F. R. I. 94.,) and they finally made the tiers etat pay all the expenses of the meeting, for themselves and the other two orders likewise. No wonder, then, that the higher nobility and clergy, in 1789, should so energetically have exclaimed, "Give us 1614, and our last States General; these are our masters, these are our models."

* We are not to suppose that the meeting of 1614, was a true type of all former meetings. On the contrary, the States General held at Blois, in 1576, were almost as different, in composition and form of proceeding, from that of 1614, as from their predecessors under King John and Louis XII.