“This court is a real inquisition, to which the nobility of France submitted under the specious and proud pretext of being tried by their peers; an office essentially military, but which had degenerated into a judicial and civil court, where abuses were most notorious. Most of these nobles, debilitated by age and infirmities, sought to grasp, at the end of their career, a distinguished palm, which their feeble hands would soon be compelled to relinquish. Without any previous study of law or justice, their innate honour and chivalric loyalty were not a sufficient beacon to direct their course. Difficult points were elucidated by pedantic lawyers,--the natural enemies of the nobility, and strangers, from education and from principle, to the nature of the duties assigned to them: then came a host of subordinate agents, who effectually closed the gates of this tribunal until opened by a golden key. Favours and accusations were bought and sold, as were the statements that exonerated, or the evidences that condemned: in short, they were a band of mercenaries, who throve upon gall, extorted presents, robbery, and rapine.” Such was the corrupt state of the most noble tribunal in the land, presided over by the depraved Richelieu,--a slur upon the nobility, and a disgrace to his king and country. At the commencement of the Revolution duels were not deemed necessary, and every orator considered that his life belonged to the country. Mirabeau, who in his early days had shown frequent proofs of personal courage, no longer conceived that his honour was at stake when insulted by infuriate orators; and, although he had fought several desperate duels, was accused of cowardice by his enemies. When parliamentary decorum was lost sight of in stormy debates, the offending speaker was committed to prison. A duel between Charles de Lameth and De Castries, although the subject of it had not arisen in a public debate, was looked upon as an uncommon occurrence, and the populace burnt down the house of De Castries; while numerous deputations waited upon his adversary, to express their disapprobation of duelling in the most energetic language. At this period single combats were considered a detestable relic of aristocracy and courtly corruption. This act of violence on the part of the mob was called “a sublime movement of the people;” and Mirabeau, in one of his most eloquent speeches, thus alluded to the event: