CHAPTER XXXIV THE EVE OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 378. Uncer- tainty and confusion of the Ancien Regime. (From Madame de Stael.) I. The Ancien Regime Necker's daughter, the gifted Madame de Stael, in hei Observations on the French Revolution (published in 1 8 18), skillfully sums up the general character of the French government before 1789. Among all the kingdoms of modern times France has certainly been the most arbitrary and unsettled in its politi- cal institutions. Perhaps the successive annexations of the various provinces by the crown is one reason for this. Each province brought with it its own customs and particular claims ; the government skillfully played off the old provinces against the new, and only gradually did the country become a unit. Be this as it may, there has been no law, however funda- mental, which has not been questioned at some period. There has been nothing which has not been viewed in the most diverse ways. Were the kings the lawgivers of the realm, or no ? Might they raise taxes of their free will, or were the Estates General the representatives of the people, to whom alone belonged the right to grant subsidies ? And how should the Estates General be composed? Could the privileged orders, who had two votes out of the three, be regarded as separate nations, who voted their taxes separately, and might therefore withhold their aid, and so leave the people to bear the burden of the necessary contributions to the state ? What were, precisely, the privileges of the clergy, who some- times declared themselves independent of the king, sometimes 360
