9 



^oing around the South Foreland. That was not 

 50 important now as then, but apart from that 

 they would hare had a navigable river, and it was 

 a thousand pities that the landowners were so 

 selfish and did not give any thought to the really 

 national interests. 



There was a short discussion, in which Mr. 

 ^idney Harvey, Mr. Cozens, and the President 



took part. Mr. Harvey remarked that the ques- 

 tion dealt with in the lecture was a veiy 

 important one, and pointed out that during his 

 time the rent which the French Church received 

 from land in Romney Marsh had decreased one-half 

 •wing to the high demand for Scots. 



A very hearty vote of thanks was accorded to 

 the Rev. L. H. Evans at the close of the meeting. 



"THE FRENCH REVOLUTION."— By J. H. SHARP, Esq., B.A. 



Mr. 3. H. Sharp, B.A., Headmaster of the 

 Simon Langton School, Canterbury, gave an 

 interesting lecture on the French Revolution 

 at the meeting of the Society in the Beaney 

 Institute, Canterbury, on February 8. 



The lecturer confined his attentions to the 

 causes leading up to the Revolution and to the 

 events ending in the capture of the Bastille. 

 Going back to the period during which France 

 was under the Feudal system, he showed how 

 the barons transformed a system of holding 

 land into a system of governmeut, and finally 

 set up what were practically independent king- 

 doms. These kingdoms were brought back 

 under the central authojitv bv the efforts of 

 Charles VII.. Louis XI., and* Charles VIII. 

 The barons had had almost unlimited power 

 over their vassals, who, iu return for protec- 

 tion, had to pay feudal incidents and to per- 

 form a great number of services for their over- 

 lords. Richelieu attacked the barons with the 

 greatest determination, stripped them of their 

 administrative power as territorial magnates, 

 increased the central authority, and reduced 

 them practically to the state of mere courtiers, 

 a result best seen in the reign of Louis XIV. 

 In their places he set up in the various prov- 

 inces intendants, appointed by and responsible 

 to the king. Unfortunately the nobles retained 

 the immunities and privileges formerly enjoyed 

 for services performed for the State. Richelieu 

 further increased the power of the King by 

 allowing the States General, a body represent- 

 ing the nobles, clergy and the third estate, 

 to fall into abeyance, so that no meeting was 

 held from 1614 to 1789. The various " Parle- 

 nients," a body of jurists who had assumed to 

 themselves the right to register or to refuse 

 to register the king's; edicts, were allowed to 

 lai)8e. For many years, therefore, there had 

 l>een no recognistd official body that could act 

 lis a check ou the power of the king. At the 

 time of the Revolution practically the only body 

 to bear the burden of the taxation was the tiers- 

 etat. and a peasant probably paid 81 per cent. 

 of his income in taxes to the State, to his lord, 

 and to the tithes. The clergy were divided into 

 two distinct bodies : the higher clergy, who 

 belonged to noble families and for whom all 

 important posts were reserved, and the parish 

 clergy, whose sympathies were on the whole 

 btrongly on the side of the people. Many of 

 the members of the Third Estate, having won 



wealth in man-jfactures and commerce, had be- 

 come a real power in the State, and from their 

 ranks sprang many of those who stirred up pub- 

 lic opinion against the injustice of the social 

 life in France, and the barriers which made 

 intercourse between province and province so 

 difficult. The intellectual revolt was led by 

 Montesquieu with his Esprit des lois, and he 

 was followed by the Physiocrats, including 

 Quesnay and Turgot, and they by the Philoso- 

 j)hers, of whom the most famous were Voltaire, 

 Diderot. d'AIembert, and who declined to ac- 

 cept tradition and custom as sufficient justi- 

 fication for the existence of any condition of 

 affairs, and rejected whatever could not bear 

 the light of question and reason. A body of 

 these men spread their views in the Encyclo- 

 paedia, and were kuown as the Encyclopaedists. 

 Louis XVI. found the finances in a thoroughly 

 bad state, the central power discredited, the 

 Parlements becoming unmanageable, and he 

 encountered an imperious and enlightened pub- 

 lic opinion. No man had a keener perception 

 than the king of the evils of the country, or 

 a more eager desire to find remedies, but he 

 lacked initiative, and, above all, the determi- 

 nation necessary to carry through a continuous 

 policy. He chose Maurepas as his chief minis- 

 ter, and Maurepas at once called Turgot to act 

 as Comptroller of Finances. Turgot proceeded 

 to introduce wise and broad reforms, but he 

 was badly supported bj' Maurepa.s and by those 

 whose interests he touched, and he resigned. 

 He was followed by the banker, Necker, and he 

 by Calonne, whose senseless extravagance 

 brought matters to a crisis, and largely con- 

 tributed to tht- summoning of the States Gene- 

 ral. The Parlement of Paris, in its opposition 

 to the King and to the successor of Calonne, 

 donianded the meeting of the States General, 

 and Louit. summoned that body for the 5th 

 May, 17Sy. The States General had always 

 mt-t as three bodies, the Nobles, Clergy, and 

 the Third Estate. Xecker succeeded in bring- 

 ing abtnit a double representation of the people, 

 that is the Tliird Estate sent up as many repre- 

 sentatives as the combined representatives of 

 the clergy and nobles. The States General met 

 at Versailles, and the first battle was fought 

 over the question as to whether voting should 

 be " by order " or " by head," victory finally 

 resting with the Third Estate, who formed them- 

 selves into the national assembly and swore not to 



