oken
from the era of Roman dominion in Gaul. Its constitution in the
eighteenth century was in appearance democratic. To the communal
assembly belonged all persons who were liable to the _taille_, and
this body elected communal officers, cared for communal property, and
regulated local affairs. In point of fact, however, the measure of
real independence which the assembly enjoyed was meager. The
_intendant_ dictated or controlled virtually its every act. Of true
local government it may be said that in pre-revolutionary France there
was little or none.[505]

[Footnote 505: A. Babeau, La ville sous l'ancien
regime (Paris, 1880); A. Luchaire, Les communes
francaises (Paris, 1890); H. Barthelemy, Traite de
droit administratif (5th ed., Paris, 1908); A.
Esmein, Histoire du droit francais (8th ed., Paris,
1908).]

*376. The Reconstitution of 1789-1791.*--One of the earlier performances
of the National Assembly of 1789 was to sweep away relentlessly the
administrative system of the Old Regime and to substitute therefor an
order which was all but entirely new. The communes, to the number of
upwards of forty-four thousand, were retained. But the provinces and
the _generalites_ were abolished and in their places was erected a
system of departments, districts, and cantons. For historic boundary
lines, physical demarcations, and social cleavages only incidental
allowance was made. Eighty-three departments in all were created. In
each there were, on an average, six or seven districts, and in each of
these an average of eight or nine cantons. The cantons, in turn, were
made up of widely varying numbers of communes. The most striking
aspects of the system were its symmetry and its detachment from
history and tradition. Departments, districts, and cantons presented,
and were intended to present, a _tabula rasa_ upon which the
law-makers of France might impress any pattern whatsoever.

For the time being the ideal of democracy was predominant, and by the
measures of 1789, re-enforced by the constitution of 1791, the entire
administration of local affairs was transferred at a stroke from the
agents of the crown to the elected representatives of the new
governmental units. In the department was established an (p. 343)
administrative group consisting of thirty-six persons, elected for a
term of two years, and divi