1718. CONSTITUTION (French), Necessity for.—
Nor should we wonder at the
pressure, [for a fixed constitution] when we
consider the monstrous abuses of power under
which * * * the [French] people were
ground to powder; when we pass in review the
weight of their taxes, and the inequality of
their distribution; the oppressions of the tithes,
the tailles, the corvées, the gabelles, the farms
and barriers; the shackles on commerce by monopolies;
on industry by guilds and corporations;
on the freedom of conscience, of thought, and
of speech; on the freedom of the press by the
Censure; and of the person by Lettres de
Cachet; the cruelty of the Criminal code generally;
the atrocities of the Rack; the venality
of the judges, and their partialities to the rich;
the monopoly of Military honors by the Noblesse;
the enormous expenses of the Queen,
the Princes and the Court; the prodigalities
of pensions; and the riches, luxury, indolence
and immorality of the Clergy. Surely under
such a mass of misrule and oppression, a people
might justly press for a thorough reformation,
and might even dismount their roughshod
riders, and leave them to walk on their
own legs.—
Autobiography. Washington ed. i, 86.
Ford ed., i, 118.
(1821)
