ouse, where his opinions on religious
subjects shocked and horrified his mother and sister. He lived with
an entirely different set, and spent most of his time at the clubs
which, in imitation of those of Paris, had sprung up all over the
country.

"What is all the excitement about, Jean?" Leigh asked his
brother-in-law, one evening. "There are always fellows standing on
casks or bales of timber along the wharf, shouting and waving their
arms about and, sometimes, reading letters or printed papers; and
then those who listen to them shout and throw up their caps, and
get into a tremendous state of excitement."

"They are telling the others what is being done at the Assembly."

"And what are they doing there, Jean?"

"They are turning things upside down."

"And is that good?"

"Well, there is no doubt that things are not as well managed as
they might be, and that there is a great deal of distress and
misery. In some parts of France the taxation has been very heavy,
and the extravagance of the court has excited an immense deal of
anger. It is not the fault of the present king, who is a quiet
fellow, and does not care for show or pageants; but it is rather
the fault of the kings who preceded him, especially of Louis the
Fourteenth--who was a great monarch, no doubt, but a very expensive
one to his subjects, and whose wars cost an enormous sum.

"You see it is not, in France, as it is with you. The nobles here
have great power. Their tenants and serfs--for they are still
nothing but serfs--are at the mercy of their lords, who may flog
them and throw them into prison, almost at their pleasure; and will
grind the last sou out of them, that they may cut a good figure at
court.

"In this part of France things are more as they are in England. The
nobles and seigneurs are like your country gentlemen. They live in
their chateaux, they mix with their people and take an interest in
them, they go to their fetes, and the ladies visit the sick, and in
all respects they live as do your country squires; paying a visit
for a few weeks each year to Paris, and spending the rest of their
time on their estates. But it is not from the country that the
members of the Assembly who are the most urgent for reforms and
violent in their speech come, but from the towns. There were two
writers, Voltaire and Rousseau, who have done enormous mischief.
Both of them perceived that the state of things was wrong; but they
went to extremes, made f