Towards the end of the year 1789， there can be not doubt of this；and the parties now formed reveal their presumption， improvidence， incapacity， and obstinacy. "This Assembly，" writes the American ambassador，[28] "may be divided into three parties； --one called the aristocrats， consists of the high clergy， the parliamentary judges， and such of the nobility as think they ought to form a separate order." This is the party which offers resistance to follies and errors， but with follies and errors almost equally great. In the beginning "the prelates，[29] instead of conciliating the curés， kept them at a humiliating distance， affecting distinctions， exacting respect，" and， in their own chamber， "ranging themselves apart on separate benches." The nobles， on the other hand， the more to alienate the commons， began by charging these with， "revolt， treachery， and treason，" and by demanding the use of military force against them. Now that the victorious Third-Estate has again overcome them and overwhelms them with numbers， they become still more maladroit， and conduct the defense much less efficiently than the attack. "In the Assembly，" says one of them， "they do not listen， but laugh and talk aloud；" they take pains to embitter their adversaries and the galleries by their impertinence.
"They leave the chamber when the President puts the question and invite the deputies of their party to follow them， or cry out to them not to take part in the deliberation ： through this desertion， the clubbists become the majority， and decree whatever they please."It is in this way that the appointment of judges and bishops is withdrawn from the King and assigned to the people. Again， after the return from Varennes， when the Assembly finds out that the result of its labors is impracticable and wants to make it less democratic， the whole of the right side refuses to share in the debates， and， what is worse， votes with the revolutionaries to exclude the members of the Constituent from the Legislative Assembly. Thus， not only does it abandon its own cause， but it commits self-destruction， and its desertion ends in suicide. --A second party remains， "the middle party，"[30] which consists of well-intentioned people from every class， sincere partisans of a good government； but， unfortunately， they have acquired their ideas of government from books， and are admirable on paper. But as it happens that the men who live in the world are very different from imaginary men who dwell in the heads of philosophers， it is not to be wondered at if the systems taken out of books are fit for nothing but to be upset by another book. Intellects of this stamp are the natural prey of utopians. Lacking the ballast of experience they are carried away by pure logic and serve to enlarge the flock of theorists. - The latter form the third party， which is called the "enragés (the wild men)， and who， at the expiration of six months， find themselves "the most numerous of all.""It is composed，" says Morris， "of that class which in America is known by the name of pettifogging lawyers， together with a host of curates and many of those persons who in all revolutions throng to the standard of change because they are not well.[31] This last party is in close alliance with the populace and derives from this circumstance very great authority."All powerful passions are on its side， not merely the irritation of the people tormented by misery and suspicion， not merely the ambition and self-esteem of the bourgeois， in revolt against the ancient régime， but also the inveterate bitterness and fixed ideas of so many suffering minds and so many factious intellects， Protestants， Jansenists， economists， philosophers， men who， like Fréteau， Rabout-Saint-Etienne， Volney， Sieyès， are hatching out a long arrears of resentments or hopes， and who only await the opportunity to impose their system with all the intolerance of dogmatism and of faith. To minds of this stamp the past is a dead letter； example is no authority； realities are of no account； they live in their own Utopia. Sieyès， the most important of them all， judges that "the whole English constitution is charlatanism， designed for imposing on the people；"[32] he regards the English "as children in the matter of a constitution，" and thinks that he is capable of giving France a much better one. Dumont， who sees the first committees at the houses of Brissot and Clavières， goes away with as much anxiety as "disgust.""It is impossible，" he says， "to depict the confusion of ideas， the license of the imagination， the burlesque of popular notions.
One would think that they saw before them the world on the day after the Creation."They seem to think， indeed， that human society does not exist， and that they are appointed to create it. Just as well might ambassadors "of hostile tribes， and of diverse interests， set themselves to arrange their common lot as if nothing had previously existed." There is no hesitation. They are satisfied that the thing can be easily done， and that， with two or three axioms of political philosophy， the first man that comes may make himself master of it. Immoderate conceit of this kind among men of experience would seem ridiculous； in this assembly of novices it is a strength. A flock which has lost its way follows those who appears to forge ahead； they are the most irrational but they are the most confident， and in the Chamber as in the nation it is the daredevils who become leaders.
III. THE POWER OF SIMPLE， GENERAL IDEAS.
Ascendancy of the revolutionary party - Theory in its favor - The constraint thus imposed on men's minds - Appeal to the passions -Brute force on the side of the party - It profits by this -Oppression of the minority.