274 
dered state of the finances, and conse- 
quent depreciation of public credit, to- 
gether with the insolence, profligacy, 
and. corruption of a beggarly and con- 
temptible nobility, as the immediate 
causes of the tevolution. These causes 
are enlarged onin an excellent introduc- 
tory chapter to the memoirs of the 
Count de Puisaye, written by himself, a 
work which we are surprised has not 
yet been translated into English. 
M. de Puisaye, who is an excellent 
authority on this subject, speaking of 
the state of France before the revolution, 
says, that whilst luxury, with its wonted 
rapidity, made such alarming progress, 
and whilst the necessities of kings were 
encreased by the cupidity of courtiers, 
the court became a public auction, 
where every thing was bid for with mo- 
ney, and nobility itself was exposed to 
sale; sometimes the price was‘ openly 
fixed, sometimes, (we are translating the 
count’s words,) for decency’s sake, cer- 
tain offices were attached to it, which 
seldom however required the perform- 
ance of any duties, and each of these 
offices had its own tarif; to some was 
attached nobility, purely personal, to 
others hereditary nobility: this latter 
was only conferred after the office had 
‘been retained a certain number of years, 
or after it had descended through se- 
veral generations; there were some 
adapted to every purse, and every taste, 
according to the wealth or the vanity of 
the candidates: they who had acquired, 
well or ill was immaterial, a certain sum 
of money, hurried to that aspiring pa- 
‘geant which was dignified with the title 
of the administration of finance; there 
they received an exchange—a piece of 
parchment, and quitted the class of the 
people, in order to be enrolled among 
the nobility, generally indeed disdained 
by the one, and despised by the other. 
Having once proceeded thus far, mo- 
ney became a substitute for every thing, 
and the consequence and pretensions of 
a man were to be measured by the length 
of his purse. This vast increase of new 
nobles was a deadly blow to the state ; 
but as the effect which was expected 
from the humiliation of the nobility was 
immediate, and the evils which would 
thence result, if perceived at all, consi- 
dered as remote, the present was pre- 
ferred to the future, and it was thought 
sufficient to appease the rising discon- 
tents by distinction of opinion ; hence a 
multitude of the most insignificant and 
HISTORY, POLITICS, AND STATISTICS. 
puecrile distinctions, such as the ennoblis, 
nobles gentilshommes, noblesse d’épée, 
noblesse de charges, de robe, &c. But 
the most important difference, continues 
the count, was that between ancient and 
modern titles: the wealthy no longer 
contented themselves with a rank which 
all these distinctions had contributed to 
discredit, they must have antiquity, 
and antiquity also was to be sold!— 
Ancestry might be purchased: families 
reduced to poverty, ‘disposed of their 
titles for money, they had only to change 
their baptismal name. Genealogies 
were bargained for like land ; fictitious 
titles defied the scrutiny of the most 
skilful examiners; or should all these 
resources fail them, the court distributed 
its dispensations, and those families which 
yesterday were new, became ancient 
to-MOrroW PAR ORDRE. 
The remark has at all times been 
made, that when empires are on the 
decline, vanity seeks to hide its weak- 
ness under pompous appellations, the 
miserable substitutes of real excellen- 
cies: it has received an ample satisfac- 
tion here! Titles of noble dignity were 
lavished with so ridiculous a prodiga- 
lity, that a man might fit himself with 
a title, as he would with a coat; and it 
may be asserted, without much fear of 
contradiction, that the system of equas 
lity, that social malady which confounds 
all ranks, first made its trial in France 
on the order of nobility. The introdué- 
tion of commerce into France, was 
the epoch of a memorable revolutior 
in the condition of that class, who bear 
the name of the people. Instruction 
succeeded to ignorance: this took refuge 
in that order, from whom commerce 
was interdicted, and that became the lot 
of others who pursued it. The real ad- 
vantages which the two first orders had 
enjoyed, now glided imperceptibly into 
the hands of a third, whilst the former re- 
served for themselves advantages, brilli- 
ant and useful indeed, but adventitious, 
The necessities of luxury were continu- 
ally withdrawing from one side and sup- 
plying the other ; the one employed itself 
in consuming, and the other in ac- 
quiring. 
To.seek for remote and mysterious 
causes, when plain and immediate ones 
are sufficient to account for an event, 
is not very philosophical. We do not 
mean to deny in toto the influence of the 
writings of individual speculative philo-~— 
sophers, in bringing about the revolu- 
