They say that it looks (sic) like going to a wedding. People cannot get used to it， some declaring that it is supernatural."[56] Sauzay， I.. introduction. - De Tocqueville， "L'Ancien Regime et la Revolution，" 166. "I have patiently read most of the reports and debates of the provincial états，' and especially those of Languedoc， where the clergy took much greater part than elsewhere in administrative details， as well as the procès-verbaux of the provincial assemblies between 1779 and 1787， and， entering on the study with the ideas of my time， I was surprised to find bishops and abbés， among whom were several as eminent for their piety as their learning， drawing up reports on roads and canals， treating such matters with perfect knowledge of the facts， discussing with the greatest ability and intelligence the best means for increasing agricultural products， for ensuring the well-being of the people and the property of industrial enterprises， oftentimes much better than the laymen who were interested with them in the same affairs."[57] "The Ancient Regime，" p.300. - " The Revolution，" vol. I.， p.
116. ？？Buchez et Roux， I.， 481. The list of notables convoked by the King in 1787 gives an approximate idea of this social staff. Besides the leading princes and seigniors we find， among one hundred and thirty-four members， twelve marshals of France， eight Councillors of State， five ma？tres de requêtes， fourteen bishops and archbishops， twenty presidents and seventeen procureurs géneraux des parlements， or of royal councils， twenty-five mayors， prév？ts des marchands， capitouls， and equerries of large towns， the deputies of the "Etats"of Burgundy， Artois， Brittany and Languedoc， three ministers and two chief clerks. - The capacities were all there， on hand， for bringing about a great reform； but there was no firm， strong， controlling hand， that of a Richelieu or Frederic II.
[58] See "The Revolution II" Ed. Lafont page 617. US ediction P. 69.
(SR.)
[59] "Mémoires de Gaudin，" duc de Ga？te.
[60] Mallet-Dupan， "Mémoires，" II.， 25， 24. "The War Committee is composed of engineer and staff-officers， of which the principal are Meussuer， Favart， St. Fief， d'Arcon， LafitteClavé and a few others.
D'Arcon directed the raising of the siege of Dunkirk and that of Maubenge. . . . These officers were selected with discernment；they planned and carried out the operations； aided by immense resources， in the shape of maps， plans and reconnaissances preserved in the war department， they really operated according to the experience and intelligence of the great generals under the monarchy."[61] Miot de Melito， "Mémoires，" I.， 47. - Andre Michel， "Correspondance de MalletDupan avec la Cour de Vienne，" I.， 26.
(January 3， 1795.) "The Convention feels so strongly the need of suitable aids to support the burden of its embarrassments as to now seek for them among pronounced royalists. For instance， it has just offered the direction of the royal treasury to M. Dufresne， former chief of the department under the reign of the late King， and retired since 1790. It is the same spirit and making a still more extraordinary selection， which leads them to appoint M. Gerard de Rayneval to the Commissariat of Foreign Affairs， chief-clerk of correspondence since the ministry of the Duc de Choiseul until that of the Comte de Montmorin inclusive. He is a man of decided opinions and an equally decided character； in 1790 I saw him abandon the department through aversion to the maxims which the Revolution had forcibly introduced into it.
[62] Marshal Marmont， "Mémoires." At nine years of age he rode on horseback and hunted daily with his father.
[63] Among other manuscript documents， a letter of M. Symn de Carneville， March II， 1781. (On the families of Carneville and Montmorin-Saint-Herem， in 1789.) The latter family remains in France；two of its members are massacred， two executed， a fifth "escaped the scaffold by forestalling the justice of the people；" the sixth， enlisted in the revolutionary armies， received a shot at nineteen years of age which made him blind. The other family emigrated， and its chiefs， the count and viscount Carneville commanded， one， a free company in the Austrian service， and the other， a regiment of hussars in Conde's army. Twelve officers of these two corps were brothers-in-law， nephews， first-cousins and cousins of the two commanders， the first of whom entered the service at fifteen， and the second at eleven. - Cf. "Mémoires du Prince de Ligne." At seven or eight years of age I had already witnessed the din of battle， I had been in a besieged town， and saw three sieges from a window. A little older， Iwas surrounded by soldiers； old retired officers belonging to various services， and living in the neighborhood fed my passion.- Turenne said "I slept on a gun-carriage at the age of ten. My taste for war was so great as to lead me to enlist with a captain of the 'Royal Vaissiaux，'
in garrison two leagues off. If war had been declared I would have gone off and let nobody know it. I joined his company， determined not to owe my fortune to any but valorous actions." - Cf. also "Mémoires du Maréchal de Saxe." A soldier at twelve， in the Saxon legion， shouldering his musket， and marching with the rest， he completed each stage on foot from Saxony to Flanders， and before he was thirteen took part in the battle of Malplaquet.
[64] Alexandrine des Echerolles， "Un Famille Noble sous la Terreur，"p.25. - Cf. "Correspondance de Madelle de Féring，" by Honore Bonhomme. The two sisters， one sixteen and the other thirteen， disguised as men， fought with their father in Dumouriez' army. - See the sentiment of young nobles in the works of Berquin and Marmontel.
(Les Rivaux d' Eux-meme.)