Then followed a scene almost unprecedented in history.
Noble vied with noble, and clergyman with clergyman, in renouncing the
vested rights of the "old regime." The game laws were repudiated. The
manorial courts were suppressed. Serfdom was abolished. Tithes and all
sorts of ecclesiastical privilege were sacrificed. The sale of offices
was discontinued. In fact, all special privileges, whether of classes,
of cities, or of provinces, were swept away in one consuming burst of
enthusiasm. The holocaust lasted throughout the night of the fourth of
August. Within a week the various independent measures had been
consolidated into an impressive decree "abolishing the feudal system,"
and this decree received in November the royal assent. What many
reforming ministers had vainly labored for years partially to
accomplish was now done, at least in theory, by the National Assembly
in a few days. The so-called "August Days" promised to dissolve the
ancient society of France.
It has been customary to refer these vast social changes to the
enthusiasm, magnanimity, and self-sacrifice of the privileged orders.
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