  France an unlimited Monarchy before the Revolution.—The Kingdom was divided into fifteen Parts, in which were as many Parliaments.—It was also divided into twenty-five Generalities.—The King nominated the Bishops.—The Privileges of the Clergy.—The Orders of Knighthood.—From what the Revenues were collected.—A Statement of the Annual Incomes and Expences.—Of the Gold and Silver in Circulation.—National Debt, &c. Having, partly from my own knowledge, and partly from credible information, given in the preceding chapter a short geographical description of the kingdom of France, I proceed, in the next place, to say something concerning its Constitution and Government before the late Revolution. Let us therefore observe, 1. That France was an unlimited monarchy. 2. That both the legislative and executive powers resided in the king. 3. That his decrees had the same force as our acts of parliament. 4. That the kingdom was divided into fifteen parts, each of which had a parliament; as that of Paris, Toulouse, Rouen, Grenoble, Bordeaux, Dijon, Aix, Rennes, Pau, Besancon, Metz, Dowa, Perpignan, Arras, and Alsace. 5. That these parliaments consisted of a certain number of presidents and inferior judges, who purchased their offices of the crown, or of those that possessed them, as they were for life, unless the officers were found guilty of malconduct in the execution of their office. 6. That the parliament of Paris was esteemed the highest, because it was composed of princes of royal blood, dukes and peers, besides ordinary judges. Here the king frequently came in person, and had his royal edicts recorded and promulgated. 7. That the kingdom was also divided into twenty-five generalities, every one of which had an intendant, on whom the king depended for the administration of justice, in civil and criminal causes; for ruling and governing the subordinate officers, and ordering and conducting his finances and revenues. 8. That the king nominated the bishops and their livings, and then the pope sent his bulls of consecration. 9. That the crown seized all the temporalities of archbishopricks, and bishopricks, which was called the regal, and the king frequently gave pensions to laymen out of the bishopricks. The privileges of the clergy were: 1. An exemption from paying land-taxes. 2. From having their books seized, with the other things they used in divine service. 3. They might be tried in criminal causes, if they chose it, before the grand chamber, which is a court where the nobility were tried. 4. They had the liberty of being degraded, or placed lower, before they could be executed for any atrocious crime. 5. They were exempt from having soldiers quartered on them. 6. Their persons could not be taken with executions in civil actions. 7. They were exempted from being brought before lay courts for personal matters: But they could not bring a layman before an ecclesiastical court. All spiritual actions were recognizable in the ecclesiastical courts, providing they were not blended with temporal matters; and when that was the case, they were obliged to try their causes before the civil courts. There have been four orders of knighthood in France:
The annual revenues were collected by a land-tax—by the customs—by a tax on salt—by a poll-tax—by a tenth of estates and employments—by a sale of all offices of justice—and by a tenth, or free gift of the clergy. But this revenue was subject to an enlargment, by raising the value of the coin, and by the compounding of the state bills and debentures. The annual revenue of France, before the Revolution, was said to be 585,000,000 of livres, or 24,375,000 pounds sterling. Of which sum the clergy possessed 130,000,000 of livres. The annual balance of trade in favour of France, was 70,000,000 of livres. The gold and silver supposed to be in circulation 2,000,000,000 of livres, and the annual increase of it 40,000,000 more. The annual expences of France 610,000,000 livres, or 25,416,666l. 13s. 4d. sterling. The annual income 24,375,000l. The nation run in debt 1,041,666l. 13s. 4d. per annum. A GENERAL STATEMENT of the Expences, Incomes, &c. stands thus:
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