No popular instinct, had been longer, more
rudely, more universally offended under the ancient r?gime; and
there is none which gushes out more readily under constraint, none
which requires a higher or broader public barrier, or one more
entirely constructed of solid blocks, to keep it in check. Hence it
is that this passion from the commencement breaks down or engulfs
the slight and low boundaries, the tottering embankments of
crumbling earth between which the Constitution pretends to confine
it. - The first flood sweeps away the pecuniary claims of the
State, of the clergy, and of the noblesse. The people regard them
as abolished, or, at least, they consider their debts discharged.
Their idea, in relation to this, is formed and fixed; for them it is
that which constitutes the Revolution. The people have no longer a
creditor; they are determined to have none, they will pay nobody,
and first of all, they will make no further payment to the State.
On the 14th of July, 1790, the day of the Federation, the population
of Issoudun, in Touraine, solemnly convoked for the purpose, had
just taken the solemn oath which was to ensure public peace, social
harmony, and respect for the law for evermore.
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