26 Fi'ed Morrow Fling 



of Louis XIP and of Henry IV,- for these kings had governed in 

 accordance with the laws and not in opposition to them. Eliza- 

 beth of England also called forth his warmest commenda- 

 tion;^ she, too, had respected the laws. But if Mirabeau's 

 demands were not t-evolutionary, his opinions were positive and 

 were announced in no uncertain tone. He declared that man 

 had no other master than the law,^ that it should never be sus- 

 pended^ and that when the law was in force man was free.^ These 

 are but a few of numberless quotations that might be made to 

 prove how clearly Mirabeau perceived the real significance of 

 the struggle that was about to take place. Civil liberty was to 

 be the first fruit of it, and it was one more evidence of the 

 greatness of Mirabeau that he presented thus early a program 

 representing the possible and permanent advance to be made 

 at this time in the form of the French government. 



Yet, while he confined himself very closely in his works to 

 the issue between law and absolutism and "saw in the judicial 

 reforms the chief end of the Revolution," Mirabeau did not 

 neglect other matters. In truth, a clear and forcible demon- 

 stration of the first point made the treatment of other points 

 necessary. France was living under an absolute regime; how 

 should the reign of law be restored and maintained % What 

 should be the form of the new government that was to take the 

 place of the old '. 



I "Louis XII. pere peu eclaire de son peuple, mais vraiment bon, con- 

 stant ami de la justice, simple dans ses meurs." Des lettres de cachet, p. 

 289. 



■■* " J'ai cru devoir entrer dans ces details pour repondre a ceux qui re- 



prochent k Henri IV, a cet homme adorable."" Essai sur le despotisme, p. 



251. 



3 "Jamais les loix n'eurent plus de vigueur que sous son regne ; aussi 



futelle ridole de sa nation, et elle le raarita a beaucoup d'egards."" Essai 

 sur le despotisme, p. 2G4. 



^ "L'homme n'a d'autre luaitre que loi." Decrue, Revue historique, 



XXIII, 310. 



5 Ibid. XXIII, 310. 



" "Lorsque les loix sent en vigueur, on peut se croire libre." Des let- 

 tres de cachet, p. 208. 



70 



