As hereditary general of the feudal army he was bound to consider and respect the hereditary officers of the same army， his old peers and companions in arms - that is to say， the nobles. As outside bishop， he owed to the Church not alone his spiritual orthodoxy， but， again， his temporal esteem， his active zeal， and the aid furnished him by his secular arm. Hence， in applied right， the numerous privileges of the nobles and the Church， so many immunities and even liberties， so many remains of antique local independence， and even of antique local sovereignty，[15] so many prerogatives， honorific or serviceable， maintained by the law and by the tribunals. On this side， the meshes of the monarchical netting had not been well knit or remained loose；and the same elsewhere， with openings more or less wide， in the five provincial governments (états)， in the Pyrenees districts， in Alsace， at Strasbourg， but especially in Languedoc and in Brittany， where the pact of incorporation， through a sort of bilateral contract， associated together on the same parchment and under the same seal the franchises of the province and the sovereignty of the King.
Add to these original lacunae the hole made by the Prince himself in his net already woven： he had with his own hand torn away its meshes， and by thousands. Extravagant to excess and always needy， he converted everything into money， even his own rights， and， in the military order， in the civil order， in commerce and in industry， in the administration， in the judicature， and in the finances. From one end of the territory to the other， he had sold innumerable offices， imposts， dignities， honors， monopolies， exemptions， survivorships， expectancies - in brief， privileges which， once conferred for a money consideration， became legal property，[16] often hereditary and transmissible by the individual or the corporation which had paid for them. In this way the King alienated a portion of his royalty for the benefit of the buyer. Now， in 1789， he had alienated a great many of these portions； accordingly， his present authority was everywhere restricted by the use he had previously made of it. - Sovereignty， thus， in his hands had suffered from the double effect of its historic origins and its historic exercise； the public power had not become， or had ceased to be， omnipotence. On the one hand it had not reached its plenitude， and on the other hand it had deprived itself of a portion of its own completeness.
The philosophers wished to find a solution for this double weakness， innate and acquired They had therefore transported sovereignty out of history into the ideal and abstract world， with an imaginary city of mankind reduced to the minimum of a human being Here men， infinitely simplified， all alike， equal， separate from their surroundings and from their past， veritable puppets， were all lifting their hands in common rectangular motion to vote unanimously for the contrat social.
In this contract "all classes are reduced to one，[17] the complete surrender of each associate， with all his rights， to the community， each giving himself up entirely， just as he actually is， himself and all his forces， of which whatever he possesses forms a part，" each becoming with respect to himself and every act of his private life a delegate of the State， a responsible clerk， in short， a functionary， a functionary of the people， henceforth the unique， the absolute， and the universal sovereign. A terrible principle， proclaimed and applied for ten years， below by the mob and above by the government！ Popular opinion had adopted it； accordingly the passage from the sovereignty of the King to the sovereignty of the people was easy， smooth，[18] and to the novice in reasoning， the old-fashioned taxable and workable subject， to whom the principle conferred a portion of the sovereignty， the temptation was too great.
At once， according to their custom， the jurists put themselves at the service of the new reign. And no dogma was better suited their to authoritative instinct； no axiom furnished them so convenient a fulcrum on which to set up and turn their logical wheel. This wheel， which they had latterly managed with care and caution under the ancient Régime， had suddenly in their hands turned with frightful speed and effect in order to convert the rigid， universal， and applied laws， the intermittent processes， the theoretical pretensions， and the worst precedents of the monarchy into practice. This meant* the use of extraordinary commissions， * accusations of lésé majesté， * the suppression of legal formalities， * the persecution of religious beliefs and of personal opinions， * the right of condemning publications and of coercing thought， * the right of instruction and education， * the rights of pre-emption， of requisition， of confiscation， and of proscription，in short， pure and perfect arbitrariness. The result is visible in the deeds of Treilhard， of Berlier， of Merlin de Douai， of Cambacérès， in those of the Constituant and Legislative Assemblies， in the Convention， under the Directory， in their Jacobin zeal or hypocrisy， in their talent for combining despotic tradition with tyrannical innovation， in their professional skill in fabricating on all occasions a snare of plausible arguments with which to properly strangle the individual， their adversary， to the profit of the State， their eternal master.
In effect， not only had they almost strangled their adversary， but likewise， through an aftereffect， their master： France which， after fourteen months of suffocation， was approaching physical suicide.[19]