Before the Deluge: Public Debt, Inequality, and the Intellectual Origins of the French Revolution PDF
Preview Before the Deluge: Public Debt, Inequality, and the Intellectual Origins of the French Revolution
Before the Deluge This page intentionally left blank Before the Deluge PUBLIC DEBT, INEQUALITY, AND THE INTELLECTUAL ORIGINS OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION Michael Sonenscher PRINCETON UNIVERSIT Y PRES S PRINCETON AN D OXFOR D COPYRIGHT(cid:148)2007BYPRINCETONUNIVERSITYPRESS PUBLISHED BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 41 WILLIAM STREET, PRINCETON, NEWJERSEY08540 IN THE UNITED KINGDOM: PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, 3 MARKET PLACE, WOODSTOCK,OXFORDSHIREOX201SY ALLRIGHTSRESERVED LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA SONENSCHER,MICHAEL. BEFORETHEDELUGE: PUBLICDEBT,INEQUALITY,ANDTHEINTELLECTUALORIGINSOF THEFRENCHREVOLUTION/MICHAELSONENSCHER. P. CM. INCLUDESBIBLIOGRAPHICALREFERENCESANDINDEX. ISBN-13:978-0-691-12499-5(HARDCOVER:ALK.PAPER) ISBN-10:0-691-12499-X(HARDCOVER:ALK.PAPER) 1.FRANCE—HISTORY—REVOLUTION,1789–1799—CAUSES.I.TITLE. DC138.S572007 944.04—DC22 2006016623 BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATAISAVAILABLE THISBOOKHASBEENCOMPOSEDINJANSONTYPEFACE PRINTEDONACID-FREEPAPER.(cid:102) PRESS.PRINCETON.EDU PRINTEDINTHEUNITEDSTATESOFAMERICA 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 For Elizabeth This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix INTRODUCTION 1 1. FacingtheFuture 22 ThreeDescriptionsoftheFrenchRevolution 22 TheTerrorandItsCauses 34 BalancedGovernmentandtheEnglishConstitution 41 England’sFutureinaFrenchContext 52 Sieye`sandHisContemporaries 67 TrueMonarchy,ortheIdeaofaModernRepublic 75 2. MontesquieuandtheIdeaofMonarchy 95 TheTroglodytesandtheMoralityofMonarchy 95 Law’sSystem,theAbbe´ deSaint-Pierre,andtheGrandDesign 108 FromThePersianLetterstoTheSpiritofLaws 121 TheInheritanceofPropertyandtheInheritanceofThrones 131 TheProblemofSovereigntyandtheNatureofMonarchy 149 Jansenism 153 Fe´nelonandHisLegacy 159 Trade,theSystemofRanks,andtheAlternativetoPublicCredit 166 3. MoralityandPoliticsinaDividedWorld 173 Montesquieu’sLegacy 173 Franc¸oisVe´rondeForbonnaisandtheLimitsofTrade 179 Physiocracy,orTheNaturalandEssentialOrderof PoliticalSocieties 189 FromFriendshiptoMankindtoPoliticalEconomy 199 RousseauandPhysiocracy 222 RousseauandMably 239 4. IndustryandRepresentativeGovernment 254 Agriculture,Industry,andInequality 254 Helve´tius 266 Turgot 281 Chastellux 290 JacquesNeckerandBurke’sParadox 302 JosephFauchetandPierre-PaulGudindelaBrenellerie 311 Pierre-LouisRoederer 322 Jean-BaptisteSay 334 viii CONTENTS CONCLUSION 349 BIBLIOGRAPHY 373 INDEX 403 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IAMgratefultotheProvostandFellowsofKing’sCollege,Cambridge for the many different resources that they have made available to me over the years, and, more particularly, to my colleagues Stephen Alford and Melissa Lane for their kindness in taking on my usual administrative responsibilitieswhileIwaswritingthisbook.Iamalsogreatlyindebtedto theArtsandHumanitiesResearchCounciland,initsformerincarnation, the British Academy for the financial support that enabled me to collect muchofthematerialreferredtoinwhatfollows.Ihavereliedveryheavily upon the goodwill and active help of the many librarians and archivists responsibleforthecollectionsonwhichIhavedrawn,andIammostgrate- fultothemall.IwouldalsoliketothanktheHackettPublishingCompany forallowingmetousepassagesfromtheintroductiontomytranslationof Sieye`s:PoliticalWritings(Indianapolis,Hackett,2003),andtheeditorsand publishers of the following previously published articles or chapters for their generosity in allowing me to reproduce passages from them: “The Nation’s Debtand the Birthof theModern Republic: TheFrench Fiscal Deficit and the Politics of the Revolution of 1789,” History of Political Thought18(1997):64–103,267–325;“Fashion’sEmpire:TheoriesofFor- eignTradeinEarlyEighteenth-CenturyFrance,”inRobertFoxandAn- thony Turner, eds., Innovation and Markets in Eighteenth-Century France (London,HambledonPress,1998);and“Property,CommunityandCiti- zenship,”inMarkGoldieandRobertWokler,eds.,TheCambridgeHistory ofEighteenth-CenturyPoliticalThought(Cambridge,CambridgeUniversity Press,2006). IhavelearnedagreatdealovertheyearsfromconversationswithKeith Michael Baker, John Dunn, Bianca Fontana, Raymond Geuss, Ross Har- rison, Bernard Manin, Pasquale Pasquino, Munro Price, Emma Roth- schild, Gareth Stedman Jones, and Richard Tuck. I have also benefited fromconversationswithMaxineBerg,LesleyMillar,andKatieScottabout theartsandtheluxurytradesintheeighteenthcentury.Oneintermittent conversation, with my friend Colin Jones, now extends over thirty years. Asanotherfriend,AnnaHont,hasoftenremindedme,Ihavebeenluckyin manywaysandparticularlysoforhavingbeenabletoenjoyhisunfailingly generous intellectual and personal companionship over so many years. I amgrateful,too,toEdwardCastleton,RachelHammersley,Be´laKapossy, Ruth Scurr, and Richard Whatmore for many helpful discussions about someofthetopicsaddressedinthisbookandfortheitemsofinformation that,fromtimetotime,theywerekindenoughtopassontome.Jacques GuilhaumoukeptmeregularlyinformedofhisownpublicationsonSieye`s,
The list of books you might like
