ld not be
modified save by the nationality of Franche-Comte, and that deputies to
the States-general could not be elected save by the estates of the
country assembled according to the olden rule. This pretension of the
magistrates excluded the people from the elections; they rose and drove
the court from the sessions-hall.

Everywhere the preparatory assemblies were disturbed, they were
tumultuous in many spots; in Provence, as well as in Brittany, they
became violent. In his province, Mirabeau was the cause or pretext for
the troubles. Born at Bignon, near Nemours, on the 9th of March, 1749,
well known already for his talent as a writer and orator as well as for
the startling irregularities of his life, he was passionately desirous of
being elected to the States-general. "I don't think I shall be useless
there," he wrote to his friend Cerruti. Nowhere, however, was his
character worse than in Provence: there people had witnessed his
dissensions with his father as well as with his wife. Public contempt,
a just punishment for his vices, caused his admission into the states-
provincial to be unjustly opposed. The assembly was composed exclusively
of nobles in possession of fiefs, of ecclesiastical dignitaries, and of a
small number of municipal officers. It claimed to elect the deputies to
the States-general according to the ancient usages. Mirabeau's common
sense, as well as his great and puissant genius, revolted against the
absurd theories of the privileged: he overwhelmed them with his terrible
eloquence, whilst adjuring them to renounce their abuseful and obsolete
rights; he scared them by his forceful and striking hideousness.
"Generous friends of peace," said he, addressing the two upper orders,
"I hereby appeal to your honor! Nobles of Provence, the eyes of Europe
are upon you, weigh well your answer! Ye men of God, have a care; God
hears you! But, if you keep silence, or if you intrench yourselves in
the vague utterances of a piqued self-love, allow me to add a word. In
all ages, in all countries, aristocrats have persecuted the friends of
the people, and if, by I know not what combination of chances, there have
arisen one in their own midst, he it is whom they have struck above all,
thirsting as they were to inspire terror by their choice of a victim.
Thus perished the last of the Gracchi, by the hand of the patricians;
but, wounded to the death, he flung dust towards heaven, calling to
witness the