"THE FALL OF FEUDALISM IN FRANCE."
(To mac Ehnen or TEL " SPECTATOR.") Sia,—I have to thank you for your able and courteous review of my Fall of Feudalism in France. But in one particular I think the writer does me less than justice, and as the point is of some historical interest I venture to address this letter to you. The sentence to which I refer runs: "Mr. Herbert seems somewhat reluctant to admit that the cahiers [of 1789] . . . were to a large extent inspired by skilful agitators." Now, no reader of the article who had not also read my book would, think, gather from this that I had (1) referred to the fact that some cahicrs were based upon printed models circulated during the electoral period; (2) drawn attention to two examples of provinces where the existence of a determined propagandist movement seems clearly demonstrated; (9) shown by specific instances that the wording of some cahiers could not possibly have been chosen by peasants. On the other hand, I claim to have shown, by references to authentic documents, that the peasants were not mere clay in the hands of anyone who wished to impose his views upon them. It is the opinion of such cap- able authorities as MM. She and Lesort that in the district of Rennes the attitude of the peasants on the agrarian question was such that the urban propagandists were compelled to deal with it in their model collier. My own conclusion is that it is extraordinarily difficult to say to what extent the cahicrs were inspired by agitators, skilful or otherwise. Your re- viewer, of course, is entitled to another opinion, but not, I think, to suggest (as the sentence quoted certainly seems to do) that I am "reluctant to admit" an indisputable truth.—I am, Sir, &c., SYDNEY HERBERT. University College of Wales, Aberystwyth.
[The reviewer writes : " Mr. Herbert shows once more his reluctance to admit that the cahicrs were largely inspired by agitators, or, to put it differently, his desire to believe that many of the cahiers were genuine local products. It is a matter of opinion, in the last resort. But we know a good deal more than our grandfathers about the cunning ways of the propagandist, and we therefore discredit the earlier view of the genuineness of the cahiers."—ED. Spectator.]
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