[Perry pp. 100-102]
In his travels throughout the French countryside, Englishman Arthur Young observes the struggles of the Third Estate and blames their deplorable condition on the negligence of aristocratic and governmental institutions.
1. As an Englishman: it is reasonable to assume that he is biased against France simply because of the intense rivalry which existed between that country and Great Britain. However, he likely offers a more objective assessment than most Frenchmen because he was not directly involved in the conflict.
2. As an agricultural expert: Eventually appointed as Minister of Agriculture, Young was intimately acquainted with both the social and economic implications of agriculture in his own country. Thus, he has enough credibility to be trusted as a valid source about government policy.
Injustices committed against the French Peasants
He mentions many, including:
1. An unfair tax code which makes the lower classes bear the brunt of the tax burden
2. A unnecessarily harsh legal code
3. Capitaineries, or exclusive hunting rights, which indirectly lead to the decimation of crops
4. A legal system completely ignorant of the Third Estate's concerns
All these atrocities are caused by an oppressive social system
Young traces all the problems back to the institutions of French society: nobility, and government
Neither, he argues, is connected enough to society to adequately serve the Third Estate
Interestingly enough, he argues that the regionalized system of authority (with the intendents) actually exacerbates the oppressiveness of government
He quickly realizes that these obsolete vestiges of a feudal system, long since eliminated across the Channel, were leading France on a path to destruction
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