That country was groveling under the heel of one of the most hideous
systems that the baseness of man ever conceived. Who has not read of
the nobleman who, when his coachman ran over a child and crushed out its
life, was only concerned lest its blood should soil his carriage, or of
the poor peasants who were compelled to beat the bogs all night long,
to prevent the frogs from croaking and thereby disturbing the slumber of
their lordly masters? The condition of no people could be more horrible,
than that of the lower classes in France previous to the uprising, with
its excesses that horrified the world.
Jefferson enjoyed the music, the art and the culture of the gay capital,
but could never shake off the oppression caused by the misery of the
people.
"They are ground to powder," he said, "by the vices of the form of
government which is one of wolves over sheep, or kites over pigeons."
He took many journeys through the country and made it a practice to
enter the houses of the peasants and talk with them upon their affairs
and manner of living. He often did this, using his eyes at the same
time with the utmost assiduity. All that he learned deepened the
sad impression he had formed, and he saw with unerring prevision the
appalling retribution that was at hand.
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