un of the church, and attacked institutions
of all sorts. Their writings are read by everyone, and have shaken
people's faith in God, and in all things as they are.

"I do not say that much improvement could not be made, but it will
never be made by sudden and great changes, nor by men such as those
who are gradually gaining the upper hand in the Assembly. The
people ought to have a much stronger voice than they have in their
own taxation. They see that, in England, the ministers and
parliament manage everything; and that the king--although his
influence goes for a good deal, and he can change his ministers as
often as he likes--must yet bow to the voice of parliament. I think
that that is reasonable; but when it comes to a parliament composed
largely of mere agitators and spouters, I, for my part, would
rather be ruled by a king."

"But what is it that these people want, Jean?"

"I do not think they know in the least, themselves, beyond the fact
that they want all the power; that they want to destroy the
nobility, overthrow the church, and lay hands on the property of
all who are more wealthy than themselves. Naturally the lowest
classes of the towns, who are altogether ignorant, believe that by
supporting these men, and by pulling down all above them, it would
no longer be necessary to work. They want to divide the estates of
the nobles, take a share of the wealth of the traders, and of the
better class of all sorts; in fact they would turn everything
topsy-turvy, render the poor all powerful, and tread all that is
good and noble under their feet. The consequence is that the king
is virtually a prisoner in the hands of the mob of Paris, the
nobles and better classes are leaving the country, thousands of
these have already been massacred, and no one can say how matters
will end.

"Here in Nantes there is, as you see, a feeling of excitement and
unrest; and though as yet there has been no violence, no one could
venture to predict what may take place, if the moderate men in the
Assembly are outvoted by the extremists, and all power falls into
the hands of the latter. But I still hope that common sense will
prevail, in the long run. I regard the present as a temporary
madness, and trust that France will come to her senses, and that we
shall have the satisfaction of seeing the scoundrels, who are now
the leaders of the mob of Paris, receive the punishment they
deserve.

"However, as far as we are concerned I have n