fidelity, a respect which no excess or severity on his part has ever
shaken." ("A Comparative View of the French and of the English
Nation," by John Andrews, p.257.)

[19]. Memoirs of D'Augeard, private secretary of the Queen, and a
former farmer-general.

[20]. The following is the reply of Louis XV. to the Parliament of
Paris, March 3, 1766, in a lit de justice : "The sovereign authority
is vested in my person. . . The legislative power, without dependence
and without division, exists in myself alone. Public security emanates
wholly from myself; I am its supreme custodian. My people are one only
with me; national rights and interests, of which an attempt is made to
form a body separate from those of the monarch, are necessarily
combined with my own, and rests only in my hands."





CHAPTER II. THE PRIVILEGED CLASSES.

I. Number of the Privileged Classes.

The privileged classes number about 270,000 persons, comprising of
the nobility, 140,000 and of the clergy 130,000.[1] This makes from
25,000 to 30,000 noble families; 23,000 monks in 2,500 monasteries,
and 37,000 nuns in 1,500 convents, and 60,000 curates and vicars in as
many churches and chapels. Should the reader desire a more distinct
impression of them, he may imagine on each square league of