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the origins of contemporary france-1-第19章

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and virtuous society in spite of the almost infinite distance of rank

and power;〃 where the monarch prides himself on being the perfect

master of a household。'30' In fact; no drawing room was ever so well

kept up; nor so well calculated to retain its guests by every kind of

enjoyment; by the beauty; the dignity and the charm of its decoration;

by the selection of its company and by the interest of the spectacle。

Versailles is the only place to show oneself off; to make a figure; to

push one's way; to be amused; to converse or gossip at the head…

quarters of news; of activity and of public matters; with the élite of

the kingdom and the arbiters of fashion; elegance and taste。  〃Sire;〃

said M。 de Vardes to Louis XIV; 〃away from Your Majesty one not only

feels miserable but ridiculous。〃 None remain in the provinces except

the poor rural nobility; to live there one must be behind the age;

disheartened or in exile。  The king's banishment of a seignior to his

estates is the highest disgrace; to the humiliation of this fall is

added the insupportable weight of boredom。  The finest chateau on the

most beautiful site is a frightful 〃desert〃; nobody is seen there save

the grotesques of a small town or the village peasants。'31'



〃Exile alone;〃 says Arthur Young; 〃can force the French nobility to

do what the English prefer to do; and that is to live on their estates

and embellish them。〃



 Saint…Simon and other court historians; on mentioning a ceremony;

repeatedly state that 〃all France was there〃; in fact; every one of

consequence in France is there; and each recognizes the other by this

sign。  Paris and the court become; accordingly; the necessary sojourn

of all fine people。  In such a situation departure begets departure;

the more a province is forsaken the more they forsake it。  〃There is

not in the kingdom;〃 says the Marquis de Mirabeau; 〃a single estate of

any size of which the proprietor is not in Paris and who;

consequently; neglects his buildings and chateaux。〃'32' The lay grand

seigniors have their hotels in the capital; their entresol at

Versailles; and their pleasure…house within a circuit of twenty

leagues; if they visit their estates at long intervals; it is to hunt。

The fifteen hundred commendatory abbés and priors enjoy their

benefices as if they were so many remote farms。  The two thousand seven

hundred vicars and canons visit each other and dine out。  With the

exception of a few apostolic characters the one hundred and thirty…one

bishops stay at home as little as they can; nearly all of them being

nobles; all of them men of society; what could they do out of the

world; confined to a provincial town? Can we imagine a grand seignior;

once a gay and gallant abbé and now a bishop with a hundred thousand

livres income; voluntarily burying himself for the entire year at

Mende; at Comminges; in a paltry cloister? The interval has become too

great between the refined; varied and literary life of the great

center; and the monotonous; inert; practical life of the provinces。

Hence it is that the grand seignior who withdraws from the former

cannot enter into the latter; and he remains an absentee; at least in

feeling。



A country in which the heart ceases to impel the blood through its

veins presents a somber aspect。  Arthur Young; who traveled over France

between 1787 and 1789; is surprised to find at once such a vital

center and such dead extremities。  Between Paris and Versailles the

double file of vehicles going and coming extends uninterruptedly for

five leagues from morning till night。'33' The contrast on other roads

is very great。  Leaving Paris by the Orleans road; says Arthur Young;

〃we met not one stage or diligence for ten miles; only two messageries

and very few chaises; not a tenth of what would have been met had we

been leaving London at the same hour。〃 On the highroad near Narbonne;

〃for thirty…six miles;〃 he says; 〃I came across but one cabriolet;

half a dozen carts and a few women leading asses。〃 Elsewhere; near St。

Girons; he notices that in two hundred and fifty miles he encountered

in all; 〃two cabriolets and three miserable things similar to our old

one…horse post chaise; and not one gentleman。〃 Throughout this country

the inns are execrable; it is impossible to hire a wagon; while in

England; even in a town of fifteen hundred or two thousand

inhabitants; there are comfortable hotels and every means of

transport。  This proves that in France 〃there is no circulation。〃 It is

only in very large towns that there is any civilization and comfort。

At Nantes there is a superb theater 〃twice as large as Drury…Lane and

five times as magnificent。  Mon Dieu! I cried to myself; do all these

wastes; moors; and deserts; that I have passed for 300 miles lead to

this spectacle? 。  。  。  In a single leap you pass from misery to

extravagance; 。。。the country deserted; or if a gentleman in it; you

find him in some wretched hole to save that money which is lavished

with profusion in the luxuries of a capital。〃 〃A coach;〃 says M。 de

Montlosier; 〃set out weekly from the principal towns in the provinces

for Paris and was not always full; which tells us about the activity

in business。  There was a single journal called the Gazette de France;

appearing twice a week; which represents the activity of minds。〃'34'

Some magistrates of Paris in exile at Bourges in 1753 and 1754 give

the following picture of that place:




 〃A town in which no one can be found with whom you can talk at

your ease on any topic whatever; reasonably or sensibly。  The nobles;

three…fourths of them dying of hunger; rotting with pride of birth;

keeping apart from men of the robe and of finance; and finding it

strange that the daughter of a tax…collector; married to a counselor

of the parliament of Paris; should presume to be intelligent and

entertain company。  The citizens are of the grossest ignorance; the

sole support of this species of lethargy in which the minds of most of

the inhabitants are plunged。  Women; bigoted and pretentious; and much

given to play and to gallantry。〃'35'



In this impoverished and benumbed society; among these Messieurs

Thibaudeau; the counselor; and Harpin; the tax…collector; among these

vicomtes de Sotenville and Countesses d'Escarbagnas; lives the

Archbishop; Cardinal de Larochefoucauld; grand almoner to the king;

provided with four great abbeys; possessing five hundred thousand

livres income; a man of the world; generally an absentee; and when at

home; finding amusement in the embellishing of his gardens and palace;

in short; the golden pheasant of an aviary in a poultry yard of

geese。'36' Naturally there is an entire absence of political thought。

〃You cannot imagine;〃 says the manuscript; 〃a person more indifferent

to all public matters。〃 At a later period; in the very midst of events

of the gravest character; and which most nearly concern them; there is

the same apathy。  At Chateau…Thierry on the 4th of July; 1789;'37
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