Ambition and Self-esteem.
I. Rights and benefits.
The assignment of right. - Those out of favor and the preferred under former governments. - Under the Ancient Regime. - During the Revolution. - French conception of Equality and Rights. - Its ingredients and its excesses. - The satisfaction it obtains under the new regime. - Abolition of legal incapacity and equality in the possession of rights. - Confiscation of collective action and equality in the deprivation of rights. - Careers in the modern State. - Equal right of all to offices and to promotion. - Napoleon's distribution of employments. - His staff of officials recruited from all classes and parties.
Now that the State has just made a new allotment of the burdens and duties which it imposes it must make a new assignment of the rights and benefits it confers. Distributive justice， on both sides， and long before 1789， was defective， and， under the monarchy， exclusions had become as obnoxious as exemptions； all the more because， through a double iniquity， the ancient Régime in each group distinguished two other groups， one to which it granted every exemption， and the other which it made subject to every exclusion. The reason is that， from the first， the king， in the formation and government of the kingdom， in order to secure the services， money， collaboration or connivance which he needed， was obliged to negotiate always with corporations， orders， provinces， seignories， the clergy， churches， monasteries， universities， parliaments， professional bodies or industrial guilds and families， that is to say with constituted powers， more or less difficult to bring under subjection and which， to be kept in subjection， stipulated conditions. Hence， in France， so many different conditions： each distinct body had yielded through one or several distinct capitulations and possessed its own separate statute. Hence， again， such diversely unequal conditions： the bodies， the best able to protect themselves， had， of course， defended themselves the best.
Their statutes， written or unwritten， guaranteed to them precious privileges which the other bodies， much weaker， could neither acquire nor preserve. These were not merely immunities but likewise prerogatives， not alone alleviations of taxation and militia dispensations， but likewise political and administrative liberties， remnants of their primitive sovereignty， with many other positive advantages. The very least being precedence， preferences， social priority， with an incontestable right to rank， honors， offices， and favors. Such， notably， were the regions-states possessing their own government (pays d'états)， compared with those which elected the magistrates who apportioned taxation (pays d'élection)，[1] the two highest orders， the clergy and the nobles， compared with the third-estate， and the bourgeoisie， and the town corporations compared with the rest of the inhabitants. On the other hand， opposed to these historical favorites were the historical disinherited， the latter much more numerous and counting by millions - the taxable commons， all subjects without rank or quality， in short， the ordinary run of men， especially the common herd of the towns and particularly of the country， all the more ground down on account of their lower status， along with the Jews lower yet， a sort of foreign class scarcely tolerated， with the Calvinists， not only deprived of the humblest rights but， again， persecuted by the State for the past one hundred years.
All these people， who have been transported far outside of civic relationships by historic right， are brought back， in 1789， by philosophic right. After the declarations of the Constituent Assembly， there are no longer in France either Bretons， Proven？als， Burgundians or Alsatians， Catholics， Protestants or Israelites， nobles or plebeians， bourgeois or rurals， but simply Frenchmen，* all with the one title of citizens， * all endowed with the same civil， religious and political rights， * all equal before the State， * all introduced by law into every career， collectively， on an equal footing and without fear or favor from anybody；* all free to follow this out to the end without distinction of rank， birth， faith or fortune；* all， if they are good runners， to receive the highest prizes at the end of the race， any office or rank， especially the leading honors and positions which， thus far reserved to a class or coterie， had not been allowed previously to the great multitude.
Henceforth， all Frenchmen， in theory， enjoy rights in common；unfortunately， this is only the theory. In reality， in all state relationships (dans la cité)， the new-comers appropriate to themselves the offices， the pretensions， and more than the privileges of their predecessors； the latter， consisting of large and small land-owners， gentlemen， parliamentarians， officials， ecclesiastics， notables of every kind and degree， are immediately deprived of the rights of man.