EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION, NOTES, AND
VOCABULARY
D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS
BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO
Madame Thérèse is a story of the French Revolution. Theevents described in it occur between the summer of 1793 and thefollowing spring. It abounds in allusions to episodes in the Revolutionitself and contains many references to customs whichowed their origin to the Revolution. Though it presents nodifficulties to the intelligent Frenchman, still, by the constantintroduction of these allusions to events and institutions of theRevolution, it refers to many things which are not clear to readersof other nations, unless they are familiar with the leadingfacts of French history preceding the revolutionary outbreak.The following sections contain an account of many things mentionedin Madame Thérèse.
1. The French Revolution was the culmination of the revoltof the French people against royal despotism and class privilege.The spectacular part of the Revolution began in 1789, the realrevolution was complete before that date. In 1786 the king,Louis XVI, called together the ancient representative and legislativebody of the nation to ascertain whether the members couldsuggest any means of securing the great and constantly increasingsums of money which he thought necessary for maintainingan extravagant court--and incidentally the government.
2. If the king was compelled as a last resort to summon thisancient legislative body, called the Estates General, the financialcondition of the government must have been bad indeed; for theEstates General had not met for two centuries. It was unableto devise any increase in taxation which the people could bear,for the poorer classes were already taxed to the utmost and theupper classes were unwilling to tax themselves. The EstatesGeneral, therefore, was not able to plan ways and means of increasingthe income of the government.
3. But in this session the non-privileged part of the peoplehad leaders. Certain nobles and ecclesiastics, of whom Mirabeauand Abbé Sieyès are the best known, purposely became representatives,not of the upper classes but of the lower. Under theirguidance representatives of the Third Estate (the three estateswere the Nobility, the Clergy, and the Commons) in the EstatesGeneral now assumed power on behalf of the French people toregulate taxation. They represented ninety-six per cent of thepopulation and took the name of National Assembly.
4. This was revolution. It stirred the king to assert his authorityand he directed them to adjourn. They refused. TheAssembly now proceeded to a consideration of changes in thegovernment. The king brought soldiers to Paris. This act ofintimidation won for the Assembly the support of the Parisianmob. One of the first acts of this mob was to destroy the Bastille,which was the ancient state prison and a monument of royaloppression.
5. The peasantry in France rose, and in some places demolishedthe castles of the nobility. The mob brought the kingfrom the royal residence at Versailles to Paris, where he was keptpractically a prisoner. Thus in a few months the people had securedcontrol of the government, but without overthrowing themonarchy. On the fourth of August, 1789, the National Assembly"swept away all the odious privileges of t