Voltaire, "Internal Government" (1756)
François–Marie Arouet, who wrote under the name Voltaire, was both the best–known and most tireless advocate of the Enlightenment and also a close associate of several European kings and many French aristocrats. In his widely read history, <i>The Age of Louis XIV</i>, he exalted the achievements of the Bourbon monarchy, which had brought such glory and honor to France. In this passage, Voltaire lauds the reforms Louis XIV made in the royal government, implying that such reforms might again be useful in advancing France’s greatness.
Voltaire, <i>The Age of Louis XIV,</i> translated by W. F. Flemming, 2 vols. (London: E. R. Dumont, [1756] 1901), 2:320–33.
1756
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Turgot, "Memorandum on Local Government" (1775)
In 1774, on the accession of Louis XVI, Anne–Robert–Jacques Turgot was named Controller–General of Finances. In this position, he also became responsible for administrative policies relating to taxation, the economy, and local government. With his recent experience as an intendant in mind, Turgot directed his secretary (the economist, Pierre–Samuel Dupont de Nemours) to draft a long memorandum diagnosing the problems of provincial administration and outlining the plans for national regeneration that the controller general intended to submit to the King. Although this <i>Mémoire sur les Municipalitiés</i> was written in 1775, Turgot fell from power before it could be presented to Louis XVI . However, its arguments exercised a powerful influence on administrative thinking in the remaining years of the old regime.
Gustave Schelle, ed., <i>Oeuvres de Turgot</i>, 4 vols. (Paris: F. Alcan, 1913Ð23), 4:568Ð628.
1775
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Calonne, "Programs of Reform," Address to Assembly of Notables (1787)
In 1783 Charles Alexandre de Calonne, a provincial noble, became royal finance minister. At first, he, like Vergennes, saw no need to rationalize the royal treasury or to appease the <i>Parlements</i>. By 1786, however, the deficit had become so huge—one–sixth of the total royal budget—that Calonne knew that reforms—meaning more taxes, or at least more loans—could no longer be put off. To obtain the support of regional nobles for such changes, the King called an Assembly of Notables. At the opening session, on 22 February 1787, Calonne addressed the assembly and proposed a uniform tax across the kingdom, to be administered by provincial assemblies of nobles and other elites. In other words, a royal minister was now suggesting that taxation privileges should be replaced by a fiscal policy that would apply to all equally.
Jules Flammermont, <i>Remonstrances du Parlement de Paris au XVIIIe siècle,</i> vol. 1 (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1888–98), 189–98.
February 22, 1787
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Linguet, "Attack on the Nobility" from <i>Annales politiques</i> (1789)
Simon–Henri Linguet was one of the most active and irascible old regime figures. Among his many careers, he was a lawyer (who was disbarred in 1775) and a journalist (who was forced to give up his newspaper and flee to England in 1776). Throughout his life, he remained both a resolute monarchist and an intemperate critic of the excesses of royal ministers, Parlementary magistrates, lawyers—anyone he considered to be exercising too much power. In this passage, from early 1789, he attacks the old regime nobility on behalf of the French "nation," by which he meant those who truly wanted to help their fellow countrymen, not merely to serve themselves (of which he accused the nobles).
Simon-Nicolas-Henri Linguet, <i>Annales politiques, civiles et littéraires du dix-huitième siècle</i>, 19 vols. (London and Paris, 1777–92), 19:98–99.
1789
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Fictional Attack by "Terray" on Turgot (1781[?])
In the 1780s, following the fall of the reform–minded Turgot and Necker ministries, traditionalists felt certain that they had seen the last of the crass, pro–commerce ideas that these men and their supporters had promoted. In this pamphlet, Turgot personally is mocked by an author writing as if he were the abbé Terray, who had preceded Turgot as finance minister; the fictional "Terray" takes Turgot to task for thinking that he was justified in promoting such drastic changes on his own rather than deferring to his social betters, such as the noble magistrates of the <i>Parlements</i> and the aristocrats in the King’s entourage.
Jean-Louis Soulavie,<i> Historical and Political Memoirs of the Reign of Lewis XVI from His Marriage to His Death, Translated from the French...in Six Volumes...,</i> vol. 3 (London: G. and J. Robinson, 1802), 431-438.
1781
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The <i>Bill of Rights</i>, 1689
In response to policies that threatened to restore Catholicism in England, Parliament deposed King James II and called William of Orange from the Dutch Republic and his wife Mary, who was James’s Protestant daughter, to replace him. William and Mary agreed to the <i>Bill of Rights</i> presented to them by Parliament, thereby acknowledging that their power came from the legislature rather than from any concept of the "divine right of kings." The <i>Bill of Rights</i> confirmed traditional English liberties, especially the power of Parliament to make laws and consent to taxation. It also confirmed and guaranteed freedom of speech and denied the legitimacy of cruel and unusual punishments. The <i>Bill of Rights</i> quickly took its place as a foundation of English constitutionalism and exercised great influence in the British North American colonies during their war for independence.
Guy Carleton Lee, <i>Source-Book of English History</i> (London: Henry Holt, 1901), 424–31.
1689
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John Locke, "Of Political or Civil Society"
John Locke (1632–1704) wrote his <i>Second Treatise of Government</i> early in the 1680s and published it in 1690. In it Locke proposed a social contract theory of government and argued against the idea of "divine right," which held that rulers had a legitimate claim on their office because they were God’s emissaries on earth. Locke believed that government derived from an agreement between men to give up life in the state of nature in favor of life in a political or civil society. They set up political society in order to guarantee their natural rights: life, liberty, and estate (or property). Locke’s emphasis on a social contract that protected natural rights shaped the views of the American revolutionaries. This excerpt is from <i>Two Treatises on Civil Government</i>, <i>Second Treatise</i>, Chapter VII.
Henry Morley, ed., <i>John Locke's Two Treatises on Civil Government</i> (London: George Routledge and Sons, 1884), 230–40.
1689
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<i>Declaration of Independence</i>, 1776
The author of the <i>Declaration of Independence</i>, Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), was deeply influenced by the European Enlightenment. He spent many years in Paris and was just as much at home among European intellectuals as he was on his plantation in Virginia. Although a slaveholder, Jefferson wrote eloquently about freedom for the colonists. Even though it was not an official part of the <i>U.S. Constitution</i>, promulgated years later, the <i>Declaration of Independence</i> captures many of the chief ideals of the American revolutionaries and demonstrates the depth of their belief in "unalienable rights."
Paul Leicester Ford, ed., <i>The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, </i>vol. 2 (1776–81) (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1893), 42–58.
July 4, 1776
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Virginia’s <i>Declaration of Rights</i> (1776)
The <i>Declaration of Rights </i>drafted in 1776 by George Mason for the state constitution of Virginia influenced both Jefferson’s <i>Declaration of Independence</i> and the <i>French Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen</i>. It clearly states that rights are "the basis and foundation of government." The Virginia <i>Declaration of Rights</i> also influenced the drafting of the <i>Bill of Rights</i> added to the <i>U.S. Constitution</i> as the first ten amendments.
Kate Mason Rowland, <i>The Life of George Mason, 1725–1792</i>, vol. 1 (New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1892), 438–41.
1776
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Voltaire, "On the Church of England"
Voltaire was the pen name of François–Marie Arouet (1694–1778), an Enlightenment writer known for his plays and histories and his acerbic criticism of the French Catholic Church. Although Voltaire eventually became a kind of cultural icon celebrated even by kings and ministers, he often faced harassment and persecution for his views in his early days. In <i>Letters on England</i> of 1733, Voltaire holds up English toleration of dissident Protestant sects as a model for the French (even though the English did not extend the same toleration to Catholics) that was republished in his <i>Philosophical Dictionary</i> of 1764. Despite his more positive inclinations, Voltaire’s hostility to religion inclined him to critical digs as well.
Dilworth, Ernest, <i>PHILOSOPHICAL LETTERS: </i>Voltaire, copyright 1961. Electronically reproduced by permission of Prentice-Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 22–26.
1733
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