In the year 1787 this vague perturbation of the human mind, which I have just described, and which had for some time past been agitating1 the whole of Europe without any precise direction, suddenly became in France an active passion directed to a positive object. But, strange to say, this object was not that which the French Revolution was to attain2: and the men who were first and most keenly affected3 by this new passion were precisely4 those whom the Revolution was to devour5.
At first, indeed, it was not so much the equality of rights as political freedom which was looked for; and the Frenchmen who were first moved themselves, and who set society in motion, belonged not to the lower but to the highest order. Before it sunk down to the people, this new-born detestation of absolute and arbitrary power burst forth6 amongst the nobles, the clergy7, the magistracy, the most privileged of the middle classes,—those in short who, coming nearest in the State to the master, had more than others the means of resisting him and the hope of sharing his power.
But why was the hatred8 of despotism the first symptom? Was it not because in this state of general dissatisfaction, the common ground on which it was most easy to agree was that of war against a political power, which either oppressed every one alike or supported that by which every one was oppressed; and because the noble and the rich found in liberty the only mode of expressing this dissatisfaction, which they felt more than any other class?
I shall not relate how Louis XVI. was led by financial considerations to convoke9 about him, in an assembly, the members of the nobility, the clergy, and the upper rank of the commons, and to submit to this body of ‘Notables’ the state of affairs. I am discussing history, not narrating10 it. It is well known that this assembly, which met at Versailles on the 22nd February, 1787, consisted of nine peers of France, twenty noblemen, eight privy[202] councillors, four masters of requests, ten marshals of France, thirteen archbishops or bishops11, eighteen chief judges, twenty-two municipal officers of different cities, twelve deputies of the provinces which had retained their local estates, and some other magistrates—in all from 125 to 130 members.[97] Henry IV. had once before used the same means to postpone12 the meeting of the States-General and to obtain without them a sort of public sanction to his measures: but the times were changed. In 1596 France was at the close of a long revolution, wearied by her efforts, and distrustful of her powers, seeking nothing but rest, and asking of her rulers no more than an external deference13. The Notables caused her without difficulty to forget the States-General. But in 1787 they only revived the recollection of them in her memory. In the reign14 of Henry IV., these princes, these nobles, these bishops, these wealthy commoners who were summoned to advise the King, were still the masters of society. They could therefore control the movement they had set on foot. Under Louis XVI. in 1787 these same classes retained only the externals of power. We have seen that the substance of it was lost to them for ever. They were, so to speak, hollow bodies, resonant15 but easily crushed: still capable of exciting the people, incapable16 of directing it.
This great change had come about insensibly and imperceptibly. By none was it clearly perceived. Those most affected by it knew not that it had taken place. Even their opponents doubted it. The whole nation had lived so long apart from its own concerns, that it took but a hazy17 view of its condition. All the evils from which it suffered seemed to have merged18 in a spirit of opposition19 and a dislike for the existing Government. No sooner were the Notables assembled than, forgetting that they were the nominees20 of the sovereign, chosen by him to give their advice and not their injunctions, they proceeded to act as the representatives of the country. They demanded the public accounts, they censured21 the acts of the Government, they attacked most of the measures, the execution of which they were merely asked to facilitate. Their assistance was sought: they proffered22 their opposition.
Public opinion instantly rose in their favour, and threw its whole weight on their side. Then was witnessed the strange spectacle of a Government proposing measures favourable23 to the people without ceasing to be unpopular, and of an Assembly resisting these measures with the support of public favour.
Thus the Government proposed to reform the salt tax (la gabelle), which pressed so heavily and often so cruelly on the[203] people. It would have abolished forced labour, reformed the taille, and suppressed the twentieths, a species of tax from which the upper classes had continued to make themselves exempt24. In place of these taxes, which were to be abolished or reformed, a land-tax was to be imposed, on the very same basis which has since become the basis of the land-tax of France, and the custom-houses, which placed grievous restrictions25 on trade and industry, were to be removed to the frontier of the kingdom. Beside, and almost in the place of, the Intendants who administered each province, an elective body was to be constituted, with the power not only of watching the conduct of public business, but, in most cases, of directing it. All these measures were conformable to the spirit of the times. They were resisted or postponed26 by the Notables. Nevertheless, the Government remained unpopular, and the Notables had the public cry in their favour.
Fearing that he had not been understood, the Minister, Calonne, explained in a public document that the effect of the new laws would be to relieve the people from a portion of the taxes, and to throw that portion on the rich. That was true, but the Minister was still unpopular. ‘The clergy,’ said he elsewhere, ‘are, before all things, citizens and subjects. They must pay taxes like all the rest. If the clergy have debts, a part of their property must be sold to discharge them.’ That again was to aim at one of the tenderest points of public opinion: the point was touched, but the public were unmoved.
On the question of the reform of the taille, the Notables opposed it on the ground that it could not relieve those who paid it without imposing27 an excessive burden on the other tax-payers, especially on the nobility and clergy, whose privileges on the score of taxation28 had already been reduced to almost nothing. The abolition29 of internal custom-houses was objected to peremptorily30 on behalf of the privileges of certain provinces, which were to be treated with great forbearance.
They highly approved in principle the creation of provincial31 assemblies. But they desired that, instead of uniting together the three Orders in these small local bodies, they should be separated, and always be presided over by a nobleman or a prelate, for, said some of the Committees of Notables, ‘these assemblies would tend to democracy if they were not guided by the superior lights of the first Order.’
Nevertheless, the popularity of the Notables remained unshaken to the end: nay32, it was continually on the increase. They were applauded, incited33, encouraged: and when they resisted the[204] Government, they were loudly cheered on to the attack. The King, hastening to dismiss them, thought himself obliged to offer them his public thanks.
Not a few of these persons are said to have been amazed at this degree of public favour and sudden power. They would have been far more astonished at it if they could have foreseen what was about to follow: if they had known that these same laws, which they had resisted with so much popular applause, were founded on the very principles which were to triumph in the Revolution; that the traditional institutions which they opposed to the innovations of the Government were precisely the institutions which the Revolution was about to destroy.
That which caused the popularity of these Notables was not the form of their opposition, but the opposition itself. They criticised the abuses of the Government; they condemned34 its prodigality35; they demanded an account of its expenditure36; they spoke37 of the constitutional laws of the country, of the fundamental principles which limit the unlimited38 power of the Crown, and, without precisely demanding the interposition of the nation in the government by the States-General, they perpetually suggested that idea. This was enough.
The Government had already long been suffering from a malady39 which is the endemic and incurable40 disease of powers that have undertaken to order, to foresee, to do everything. It had assumed a universal responsibility. However men might differ in the grounds of their complaints, they agreed in blaming the common source of them; what had hitherto been no more than a general inclination41 of mind, then became a universal and impetuous passion. All the secret sores caused by daily contact with dilapidated institutions, which chafed42 both manners and opinion in a thousand places—all the smothered43 animosities kept alive by divided classes, by contested positions, by absurd or oppressive distinctions, rose against the supreme44 power. Long had they sought a pathway to the light of day: that path once opened they rushed blindly along it. It was not their natural path, but it was the first they found open. Hatred of arbitrary power became then their sole passion, and the Government their common enemy.
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1
agitating
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| 搅动( agitate的现在分词 )； 激怒； 使焦虑不安； （尤指为法律、社会状况的改变而）激烈争论 | |
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attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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8
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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9
convoke
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| v.召集会议 | |
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narrating
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| v.故事( narrate的现在分词 ) | |
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bishops
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| （基督教某些教派管辖大教区的）主教( bishop的名词复数 )； （国际象棋的）象 | |
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postpone
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| v.延期，推迟 | |
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deference
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| n.尊重，顺从；敬意 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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resonant
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| adj.(声音)洪亮的，共鸣的 | |
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16
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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hazy
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| adj.有薄雾的，朦胧的；不肯定的，模糊的 | |
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18
merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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nominees
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| n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 ) | |
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censured
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| v.指责，非难，谴责( censure的过去式 ) | |
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proffered
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| v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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24
exempt
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| adj.免除的；v.使免除；n.免税者，被免除义务者 | |
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restrictions
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| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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26
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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27
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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28
taxation
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| n.征税，税收，税金 | |
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abolition
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| n.废除，取消 | |
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peremptorily
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| adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地 | |
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31
provincial
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| adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人 | |
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32
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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33
incited
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| 刺激，激励，煽动( incite的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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34
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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35
prodigality
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| n.浪费，挥霍 | |
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36
expenditure
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| n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗 | |
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37
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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38
unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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39
malady
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| n.病，疾病(通常做比喻) | |
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40
incurable
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| adj.不能医治的，不能矫正的，无救的；n.不治的病人，无救的人 | |
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41
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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42
chafed
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| v.擦热（尤指皮肤）( chafe的过去式 )；擦痛；发怒；惹怒 | |
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43
smothered
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| （使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制 | |
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44
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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