Studies in History and Literature (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1922. Excerpt: ... to O it mi HOWARD COLLEGE BULLETIN Vol. LXXX JUNE. 1922 No. 3 STUDIES IN HISTORY AND LITERATURE The Brochures on the Eve of Elections to the States Generala The compilers of the Catalogue de VHistoire de France have attempted to list the titles of the brochures published during the reign of Louis XVI in the chronological order of their publication. The list is not complete and the chronological order is only approximately correct, but the result of the effort is worthy of analysis. For 1786 only 11 titles are listed, and these indicate that the brochures were not of a political nature. In the spring of 1787 the first assembly of notables met, and the latter half of the year witnessed a struggle between the king and the parlements. For this year the Catalogue gives 238 titles. The year 1788 witnessed a continuation of the struggle between the king and parlements, and the second assembly of notables. For this year the Catalogue gives 839 titles--233 for the first half of the year and 606 for the latter half. For 1789 down to May 5, the Catalogue indicates 1210 brochures, of which 1150 were of a political nature; the others were administrative decrees et cetera issued by the Government.1 These figures indicate at what time the movement for revolution began and how rapidly the volume of brochures increased. The present study is limited to the brochures published during the latter half of 1788 and the first month of 1789. Unfortunately they seldom bear the name of the place of publication; nevertheless they can often be localized, with a certain degree of precision, from their titles and contents. The names of the authors, when known, also give an indication of the place of publication. In this way I have classified and distributed the brochures falling within...