{"product_id":"2940013802872","title":"THE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION","description":"CONTENTS.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eINTRODUCTION\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI. THE KING AND THE ADMINISTRATION\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eII. LOUIS XVI. AND HIS COURT\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIII. THE CLERGY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIV. THE CHURCH AND HER ADVERSARIES\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eV. THE CHURCH AND VOLTAIRE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVI. THE NOBILITY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVII. THE ARMY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVIII. THE COURTS OF LAW\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIX. EQUALITY AND LIBERTY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eX. MONTESQUIEU\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXI. PARIS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXII. THE PROVINCIAL TOWNS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXIII. THE COUNTRY\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXIV. TAXATION\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXV. FINANCE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXVI. \"THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXVII. HELVETIUS, HOLBACH, AND CHASTELLUX\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXVIII. ROUSSEAU'S POLITICAL WRITINGS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXIX. \"LA NOUVELLE HÉLOÏSE\" AND \"ÉMILE\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXX. THE PAMPHLETS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXXI. THE CAHIERS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXXII. SOCIAL AND ECONOMICAL MATTERS IN THE CAHIERS\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eXXIII CONCLUSION\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eINDEX OF EDITIONS CITED\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTHE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eINTRODUCTION.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is characteristic of the European family of nations, as distinguished\u003cbr\u003efrom the other great divisions of mankind, that among them different\u003cbr\u003eideals of government and of life arise from time to time, and that\u003cbr\u003ebefore the whole of a community has entirely adopted one set of\u003cbr\u003eprinciples, the more advanced thinkers are already passing on to\u003cbr\u003eanother. Throughout the western part of continental Europe, from the\u003cbr\u003esixteenth to the eighteenth century, absolute monarchy was superseding\u003cbr\u003efeudalism; and in France the victory of the newer over the older system\u003cbr\u003ewas especially thorough. Then, suddenly, although not quite without\u003cbr\u003ewarning, a third system was brought face to face with the two others.\u003cbr\u003eDemocracy was born full-grown and defiant. It appealed at once to two\u003cbr\u003esides of men's minds, to pure reason and to humanity. Why should a few\u003cbr\u003emen be allowed to rule a great multitude as deserving as themselves? Why\u003cbr\u003eshould the mass of mankind lead lives full of labor and sorrow? These\u003cbr\u003equestions are difficult to answer. The Philosophers of the eighteenth\u003cbr\u003ecentury pronounced them unanswerable. They did not in all cases advise\u003cbr\u003ethe establishment of democratic government as a cure for the wrongs\u003cbr\u003ewhich they saw in the world. But they attacked the things that were,\u003cbr\u003eproposing other things, more or less practicable, in their places. It\u003cbr\u003eseemed to these men no very difficult task to reconstitute society and\u003cbr\u003ecivilization, if only the faulty arrangements of the past could be done\u003cbr\u003eaway. They believed that men and things might be governed by a few\u003cbr\u003esimple laws, obvious and uniform. These natural laws they did not make\u003cbr\u003eany great effort to discover; they rather took them for granted; and\u003cbr\u003ewhile they disagreed in their statement of principles, they still\u003cbr\u003ebelieved their principles to be axiomatic. They therefore undertook to\u003cbr\u003edemolish simultaneously all established things which to their minds did\u003cbr\u003enot rest on absolute logical right. They bent themselves to their task\u003cbr\u003ewith ardent faith and hope.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe larger number of people, who had been living quietly in the existing\u003cbr\u003eorder, were amused and interested. The attacks of the Philosophers\u003cbr\u003eseemed to them just in many cases, the reasoning conclusive. But in\u003cbr\u003etheir hearts they could not believe in the reality and importance of the\u003cbr\u003eassault. Some of those most interested in keeping the world as it was,\u003cbr\u003ehonestly or frivolously joined in the cry for reform and for\u003cbr\u003edestruction.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt last an attempt was made to put the new theories into practice. The\u003cbr\u003esocial edifice, slowly constructed through centuries, to meet the\u003cbr\u003evarious needs of different generations, began to tumble about the\u003cbr\u003eastonished ears of its occupants. Then all who recognized that they had\u003cbr\u003esomething at stake in civilization as it existed were startled and\u003cbr\u003ealarmed. Believers in the old religion, in old forms of government, in\u003cbr\u003eold manners and morals, men in fear for their heads and men in fear for\u003cbr\u003etheir estates, were driven together. Absolutism and aristocracy,\u003cbr\u003ealthough entirely opposed to each other in principle, were forced into\u003cbr\u003ean unnatural alliance. From that day to this, the history of the world\u003cbr\u003ehas been largely made up of the contests of the supporters of the new\u003cbr\u003eideas, resting on natural law and on logic, with those of the older\u003cbr\u003eforms of thought and customs of life, having their sanctions in\u003cbr\u003eexperience. It was in France that the long struggle began and took its\u003cbr\u003eform. It is therefore interesting to consider the government of that\u003cbr\u003ecountry, and its material and moral condition, at the time when the new\u003cbr\u003eideas first became prominent and forced their way toward fulfillment.","brand":"SAP","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47155999506672,"sku":"2940013802872","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013802872_p0.jpg?v=1763590435","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013802872","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}