Mirabeau and the French Revolution

Mirabeauway, the French Revolution appears as a part of that larger movement that gave to England its Bill of Rights, to the American colonies their independence and to many states constitutional government.Mira- beau was thus a fellow labourer with Franklin.Only when thus broadly conceived does the work of Mirabeau's life become intelligible.It is a false perspective that sees in the national assembly more historical significance than in the century of agitation against arbitrary power that made the assembly possible; that dates the beginning of Mirabeau's historical life from his entrance into the states-general and not from the year of the publication of his Essai sur le despotisme.The first event marked the culmination, the last the beginning of his activities as an historical character.At the opening of the eighteenth century, the government of France was arbitrary both in theory and in practice.During his long reign, Louis XIV.tolerated no resistance to his will and at the end of his life formulated the theory of absolutism for the benefit of his successor."It is to the head alone," he wrote, "that the power of deliberating and determining belongs and all the functions of the other members consist only in the execution of the commands which are given them."The king was not only the sole legislator, but he ruled by divine right, was responsible alone to God and demanded passive obedience from his subjects.The theory corresponded to the fact.At the close of the century, both the theory and the practice had radically changed.The king had been stripped of his power and the national assembly had become omnipotent, while the Declaration of Rights and the Constitution of 1791 contained the new theory Struggle Against Arbitrary Government 3 of the sovereignty of the nation.Between these two extremes lies the reign of Louis XV., a period of agitation and transformation.How this transformation was wrought is an historical problem of the first importance.Until the appearance of the works of Aubertin and Rocquain, the most generally accepted explanation attributed the change almost exclusively to the influence of a powerful public opinion, created by the writings of the so-called philo- sophers.1It is now known that this explanation is both incomplete and inexact.It overlooks the fact that one generation of agitators had nearly passed from the scene before the philosophers began to write, and it fails to take into account what is, perhaps, the most important factor in the whole movement prior to 1789, the parliaments of France. 2 It was the parliaments of France that precipitated the revolution by forcing Louis XVI. to convoke the states general.This act was the last in the long strug- gle between an arbitrary government and the remnants 1 Aubertin, Charles, Uesprit public au XVIII" sitcle.(Troisieme Edition. 1

Political science · Historical and Literary Studies · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History

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