DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

(336°) baker’s wife, and the baker's boy!’ chanted they into the ears of the royal family of France, who, silent and mournful in their coach, escorted by battalions of the National Guard, turned for ever from the palace which their ancestors- had proudly reared, and had inscribed ‘To all the glories of France.’ No incident of a specially sensational character occurred during the next year. In Paris the Na- tional Guard maintained comparative order among the people, who rejoiced at having the king in their midst. The National Assembly, which had followed him to the Tuileries, proceeded with its reforms, divided France into departments and communes, whose administration was constructed on the most democratic lines, abolished the old law courts, placed the choice of judges and magistrates directly in the hands of the electors, and made them inde- pendent of all other control on the part of the State. It then turned its attention to the finances. The deficit, which had run up to several hundred millions of our money, had to be met. Democratic governments are often more arbitrary than absolute monarchies. Failing to float loans, the representatives of the nation confiscated the immense property of the clergy, and ordered its sale. The lands were divided among the municipalities throughout