ABSTRACT
Long enfranchised and owning some of the land he worked, the French peasant was largely independent and had developed a healthy pride and much common sense. Inured to hardships, he was indifferent to the amenities of life, intrepid in the face of danger, and faced misfortune stoically. During the many centuries in which these men had borne the brunt of nation-wide misgovernment and lived as a class apart, they had nursed in secret their grievances, jealousies, and rancors and, having learned toughness in a hard school, had become capable of enduring or inflicting the very worst. In the 18th-century France will have noticed the steady growth amongst the people of two ruling passions: intense, indomitable hatred of inequality; and a desire to live not only on an equal footing but also as free men. When the Revolution started, they came in contact, joined forces, coalesced, and reinforced each other, fanning the revolutionary ardor of the nation to a blaze.
