In the old regime, "la feodalite etait demeuree la plus grande de toutes nos institutions civiles en cessant d'être une institution politique." The prerogatives of the lord remained and the peasant still felt the burden of feudal dues - thus feudalism remained a civil institution. However, the power and authority of the lord over the peasant was curbed considerably by the growth of administrative centralisation, for a central authority seriously restricted the

If the poor man had anything to do with the state, he found special courts, prepared judges, and a quick or completely illusory trial, without appeal.

Moreover, the greater expenditure of the king - even if it was to develop public prosperity - combined with poor financial management, led to the alienation of the class generally most hostile to political innovation and most friendly to the existing government - the rentiers, the traders, the industrialists and the other businessmen and bankers frustrated by the indebtedness of the state. Thus they called for the destruction of the financial system, failing to realise that the rest of the government would be brought down too.

Tocqueville argues that the government played another role in inciting, or at least encouraging violence against the institutions of the regime, but in this respect it was due to the example that it set. For example, the fall of the parlements, which were almost as old as the monarchy and which had seemed just as resolute, appeared to signify, in a vague sense, that "on approchait de ces temps de violence et de hazard où tout devient possible, où il n'y a guere de choses si anciennes qui soient respectables, ni de si nouvelles qu'elles ne se puissant essayer."

lord's jurisdictional powers. Furthermore, the French peasant was now a landowner, with a fierce passion for his potential to expand and for his independence. He saw only oppression, but as the lord abandoned his traditional protectoral role, he received no benefits from it. Feudal dues represented a former degradation, and the legitimacy of the lord's power was no longer believed in. Therefore, feudalism did not remain a political institution. "Quand la noblesse possede non seulement des privileges, mais des pouvoirs, quand elle gouverne et administer, ses droits particuliers peuvent être tout a la fois plus grands et moins apercus." Tocqueville argues that when feudalism was maintained in its true form, when the nobility was also an aristocracy, with responsibility and power as well as privilege, its special rights and prerogatives were less obvious or, at least, less irritating, for they could be justified. However, immediately prior to the Revolution, the nobility had lost its power yet maintained its privilege, much to the disgust and fury of the people. The anger and hatred of the French peasant, explains, to an extent, the violent destruction of the institutions of the ancien regime.

Louis XVI "ne fit que parler de reformes faire... l'administration apprit chaque jour au peuple le mepris qu'il convient d'avoir pour la propriete privee."

The hatred of the ruling class extended into a hatred f

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Approximate Word count = 1794
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)