The vote of the
_Notables_, therefore, remaining balanced by that of the parliament,
the voice of the nation becoming loud and general for the rights of the
_Tiers-Etat_, a strong probability that if they were not allowed one
half the representation, they would send up their members with express
instructions to agree to no tax and to no adoption of the public
debts, and the court really wishing to give them a moiety of the
representation, this was decided on ultimately. You are not to suppose
that these dispositions of the court proceed from any love of the
people, or justice towards their rights. Courts love the people always,
as wolves do the sheep. The fact is this. The court wants money. From
the _Tiers-Etat_ they cannot get it, because they are already squeezed
to the last drop. The clergy and the nobles, by their privileges and
their influence, have hitherto screened their property, in a great
degree, from public contribution. That half of the orange, then, remains
yet to be squeezed, and for this operation there is no agent powerful
enough, but the people. They are, therefore, brought forward as the
favorites of the court, and will be supported by them.
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