Page:Mirabeau and the French constitution in the years 1789 adn 1790 (IA mirabeaufrenchco00flin).pdf/20

 capable of expressing these views in language at once perspicu- ous aud attractive, Mirabeau appeared in the Assembly, con- scious of his superiority and ambitious of playing the leading His reception was far from favorable, for at his entrance Distrust due to the role. he was "hissed although not loudly."* irregularities of his youth, met him upon all sides ; he charmed his colleagues by his eloquence, he led them against their will, but he conld not win their confidence. In bitterness of spirit he repeatedly exclaimed, "Ah ! how the immorality of my youth injures the public cause !' Belonging to no party, he pursued his solitary way, advocated his own ideas and succeed- ed in impressing much of his personality upon the legislation from 1789-1790; what part he took iu the constitutional de- bates of these two years, what views he advocated, it is the province of the following pages discover.

III. DESTRUCTION OF THE OLD GOVERNMENT.

A. EXAMINATION OF CREDENTIALS.

During the autunn of 1788 and the following spring, France was a hotbed of political discussion. questions treated in the painphlets, that fell as thick as autumn Of the many


 * Diary and Letters of Gouverncur Morris I, 75. 2IIis relations with de la Marck, Malouet, Necker, Montmorin and the Queen, all testify to this distrust. Mirabeau-had the cutréc of the first salons of Paris, and he was simply voic- ing the sentiment of aristoeratic cireles when, after Mirabeau's death, he characterized him as "beyond all controversy, one of the most unprincipled scoundrels, that ever lived." Morris, 502. Morris-who was not acquaiuted with 3"

Ou était en garde eontre tout e qu'il proposait. Son avis dans sa bouche avait de la défaveur; eependaut on admirait son talent." Bailly Memoires I, Quoted by Häusser. "Bref, l'assemblée national doit se défics de 303. l'influence dangereuse qu'il m'exerce que trop sur elle." Mlirabeau dévoilé, p. 14.

4" La France entière s'agitait. Il 1'y avait plus qui un sujet de conversa- tion, les affiaires publiques; on en parlait avee feu jusque dans les plus petites villes, jusque dans les villages." Droz. 136.

Young's "Travels in France" fully justify Droz's generalization, but Young brings out two very important points to which Droz does not refer, namely: the deep ignorance of the people as to the real state of affairs and the short-sightedness of the government iu not supplying them with information.