28 Fred Morroxo Fling 



not a new one in France, where provincial and even national 

 estates had long existed. It is true that most of the provincial 

 estates had been abolislied or rendered powerless by absolute 

 rulers, vet in demanding their restoration Mirabeau was still 

 influenced by the reforming spirit, the spirit of Turgot and not 

 of Robespierre. But let no confusion arise as to what he 

 understood by representation. Three estates then existed 

 independently and formed the three parts of all representative 

 assemblies. I see no reason to conclude that Mirabeau wished 

 to abolish these classes although he would doubtless have treated 

 at this time the question of equal representation for the third 

 estate and the vote by head just as he did in 1789. He had no 

 occasion to treat it, however, and Mirabeau was never the man 

 to anticiyjate any question although he was generally prepared 

 for it when it presented itself. 



He demanded, then, justice administered in accordance with 

 laws emanating from the people and watched over by their 

 representatives. In a word, civil liberty could be secured only 

 by a certain amount of political liberty and political liberty 

 could be guaranteed only by a constitution. And a constitu- 

 tion was something that Mirabeau believed had existed in 

 France but had gone down before absolutism. To restore this 

 constitution, not to create a new one, was the work to be 

 done.' 



Instead of an ideal government, he had before him as a 

 model the government of Henry IV. It was a limited mon- 

 archy for this seemed to him the best of all forms of govern- 

 ment. He did not love the democracy and spoke with aristo- 

 cratic scorn of the tyranny of the uneducated masses. While 

 he claimed civil liberty, that is equality before the law,- for 



' "Mirabeau fut satisfait do ce chan<i;ement qui ramenait le roi du rang 

 de despote a celui de magistrat supreme." Decrue, Revue historique, 

 XXII, 54. 



■^ " C'est en cela que les hommes sont el seront a jamais egaux." Des 

 lettres de cachet, p. 32. 



72 



