The State of Society in France Before the Revolution of 1789: And the Causes Which Led to That EventTocqueville, Alexis de
History
The State of Society in France Before the Revolution of 1789: And the Causes Which Led to That Event
Tocqueville, Alexis de
France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799 -- Causes
Licences for the sale of tobacco were as much sought for under the old
monarchy as they are now. The greatest people begged for them for their
creatures. I find that some were given on the recommendation of great
ladies, and one at the request of some archbishops.
Note (XXVIII.)--Page 62, line 22.
The extinction of all local public life surpassed all power of belief.
One of the roads from Maine into Normandy was impracticable. Who do
our readers imagine requested to have it repaired? the _généralité_
of Touraine, which it traversed? the provinces of Normandy or Maine,
so deeply interested in the cattle trade which followed this road?
or even some particular canton especially inconvenienced by its
impassable condition? The _généralité_, the provinces, and the cantons
had no voice in the matter. The dealers who travelled on this road
and stuck fast in the ruts were obliged to call the attention of
the Central Government to its state, and to write to Paris to the
Comptroller-General for assistance.
Note (XXIX.)--Page 69, line 8.
MORE OR LESS IMPORTANCE OF THE SEIGNORIAL DUES OR RENT-CHARGES,
ACCORDING TO THE PROVINCE.
Turgot says in his works, ‘I ought to point out the fact that these
dues are far more important in most of the rich provinces, such as
Normandy, Picardy, and the environs of Paris. In the last named the
chief wealth consists in the actual produce of the land, which is held
in large farms, from which the owners derive heavy rents. The payments
in respect of the lord’s rights, in the case even of the largest
estates, form but an inconsiderable part of the income arising from
these properties, and such payments are little more than nominal.
In the poorer provinces, where cultivation is managed on different
principles, the lords and nobles have scarcely any land in their own
hands; properties, which are extremely divided, are charged with heavy
corn-rents, for payment of which all the co-tenants are jointly and
severally liable. These rents, in many instances, absorb the bulk of
the produce, and the lord’s income is almost entirely derived from them.
Note (XXX.)--Page 74, line 34.
INFLUENCE OF SELF-GOVERNMENT UNFAVOURABLE TO CASTE.
The unimportant labours of the agricultural societies of the eighteenth
century show the adverse influence which the common discussion
of general interests exercised on _caste_. Though the meetings
of these societies date from thirty years before the Revolution,
when the _ancien régime_ was still in full force, and though they
dealt with theories only--by the very fact of their discussions
turning on questions in which the different classes of society felt
themselves interested, and, therefore, took common part in--we may
at once perceive how they brought men together, and how by means of
them--limited as they were to conversations on agriculture--ideas of
reasonable reform spread alike among the privileged and unprivileged
classes.
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