At Paris, the drapers, mercers, grocers,
furriers, hatters and jewelers formed the six bodies of merchants.
The merchants' guild everywhere took precedence of other industrial
communities and enjoyed special privileges. "The merchants," says
Loyseau, "hold rank (qualit? d'honneur), being styled honorable men,
honest persons and bourgeois of the towns, qualifications not
attributed to husbandmen, nor to sergeants, nor to artisans, nor to
manual laborers." - On paternal authority and domestic discipline in
these old bourgeois families see the History of Beaumarchais and his
father. (" Beaumarchais," by M. de Lomenie, vol. I.)
[82] Albert Babeau, "Le village sous l'Ancien R?gime," p. 56, ch.
III and IV., (on the village syndics), and pp. 357 and 359. " The
peasants had the right to deliberate on their own affairs directly and
to elect their principal agents. They understood their own needs,
were able to make a sacrifice for school and church . . . . for
repairs of the town clock and the belfry. They appointed their own
agents and generally elected the most capable." - Ibid, "La Ville sous
1'Ancien Regime," p.29. The artisans' guilds numbered at Paris one
hundred and twenty-four.
Pages:
748
749
750
751
752
753
754
755
756
757
758
759
760
761
762
763
764
765
766
767
768
769
770
771
772