Analysis of Arthur Young’s Travels in France

surgical incision OF GOVERNMENT, HISTORY AND JUSTICE CAMPBELL UNIVERSITY ANALYSIS OF ARTHUR tenderS TRAVELS IN FRANCE BY DANIELLE male monarch Submitted to Professor Ocana in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Western Civilization 112 November 3, 2010 Arthur gauzy was innate(p) on September 11, 1741 in Bradfield, a vill advance in Suffolk, England. After he dropped tabu of school and acquired a business organization in a mercantile house, for which he was non suited for, green began his committal to writing cargoner at the age of seventeen. He was frequently more than(prenominal) inclined to preserve than work in a more commercial capacity as he later became a great position agribusiness writer.Although unseasoned was such a fantastic agriculture writer he is or so cognise for his social and semi policy-making writings. adolescent was not very in(predicate) with the land from the start however, afterwards inherit the land or so his home after the death of his mother and through a series of failed farming attempts elsewhere in England, he began to learn quite a lot rough agriculture. From this layer new-fashioned began to write several books and journals about agriculture in and around England and his popularity grew tremendously. After having do quite a name for himself in the world of agriculture, teenaged began to travel a counsel(p) of England.Young prototypical went to Ireland in 1776 and print his findings at that place four age later with voyage in Ireland. Youngs just about popular excursion was to France, which he commencement visited in 1787. Young explored the country in great detail learning a good deal from the tidy sum and the land. Young meticulously documented the condition of the reason and other agricultural data as well as his opinions as to the political and social reasons for Frances agricultural failure. This information was published in 1792 split into two volumes coroneted Travels in France .The reason this work was so master(prenominal) then and still most-valuable to daylight is because Young gives a singular account of the social, economic, and political problems and struggles steer up to and just after the beginning of the french Revolution. During the section of Travels in France that discussed his thoughts on the cut Revolution, Young was enraged by much of what he saw. The payoffs that hitchmed to frustrate Young the almost were un make up taxes, harsh punishable codes, and a neediness of justice in the beg musical arrangement. The first study dilemma Young discusses is a ashes of unequal taxes.He begins by giving the contributor an understanding of how the realm was organized. Young recites that the solid ground was broken into generalities with an intendant constitute to govern them. The generalities were broken down make head panache into elections which were governed by sub-de-legue this position was appointed by the intendant. Needless to say, the intendant held a vast essence of power tokenly with regards to taxation. According to Young these intendants could exempt, change, add, or diminish taxes on a whim. (Young) With this type of control it is easy to see wherefore befriending the intendant major power be advantageous.It was known that the friends and family, even very distant relatives could do good financi eachy from a connection to the intendant. course mess without this connection were very bewildered as, since taxes still had to be paying to the kingdom, they were the ones to elevate this financial burden. There were exemptions allowed for the intendants, sub-de-legues, nobility, clergy, and the friends and family of these people. The poor of the kingdom felt as though the people with the most economic resources were exempted from paying taxes because they were well(predicate) enough to assume those resources.The mo issue Young uncovers while traveling in Frances is the kingdoms unequal and unfa irly harsh penal code. Young uses, as an example, the equitys for season smugglers. interpreted from his Travels in France were eight extremely exigent regulations covering the offenders accused of smuggling salt. The first justice mentioned says that if five or more armed salt smugglers argon self-collected together in Provence they entrust be first-rated and spend nine historic period in slammer. If these analogous people were anywhere else in the kingdom they would be put to death.The undermentioned law says that if less than five and more than one armed smugglers be gathered together they get a guerrilla chance. The first age they atomic number 18 caught meeting, they will be fined and sentenced to three years in dispose. The second quantify they will be killed. The third rule discusses strip smugglers that suck some sort of exaltation to move the salt. This could be in the way of animals and or carts while traveling on land or a boat if the smuggler is o n the water. At this point the punishments become slightly less inexorable with the first disrespect being just the fine of the previous law without the time in jail.However, if that fine is not paid then the same three years time will be served. With this law as well, the smuggler would have a second chance although the second offence carried a much stiffer penalty. In most of the kingdom a heaver fine was need as well as nine years jail time. In Provence, a smuggler could expect to go to jail for five years without the fine. In Dauphine, however, the second offence would take away a smugglers freedom for the breathe of his life. The next law covers unarmed smugglers without transportation.This is the least severe of the punishments for males having nevertheless a small fine for the first offence. If the smuggler does not have the money to pay the fine they are flogged and branded. The second time they are caught is not much worse with a fine and six years jail time. The fift h law sets the punishments for women it is very fire that are given three chances and not given jail time for every offence. The first time they are sentenced with a very small fine and the second time a slightly big fine. The husband is responsible for the fine. The third time they are flogged and permanently put out of the kingdom.The next law says that the child smugglers are treated the same as the women with some(prenominal) parents held liable for the fine. After the common people of the kingdom, the nobles are mentioned. If nobles are caught, their titles and estates are taken away from them. No fine or jail time is necessary for the same crime that common people could be put to death for. The last law in this excerpt discusses what Young thinks is the salt or revenue employee that smuggles on the side. This psyche would be sentenced to death. If this employee steals or transports the stolen salt they would be hung.This is the merely law listed that describes a particula r kind of death showing how main(prenominal) they felt this crime was. The final major issue Arthur Young gear up with the French during his journey through the kingdom was with the lack of justice in the court organization. In his words the justice that was administered was partial, hireling, and infamous. (Young) He goes on to say that after conversing with numerous men in several different areas around France all of them felt as if the legal system needed serious reform, as equal justice under the law was all told impossible due to widespread corruption.Young found that as two parties stood before the measure the winner of the dispute would be whichever company could bribe the judge more. Shockingly, this bribe did not always have to be fiscal it could also be the beauty of a handsome wife (Young) The only way justice would be served was if two conditions were twain meet n each party could have any connection to the judge (or anyone else in power) and neither party could h ave something of entertain to offer the judge, be it money, land, or women.If either of these conditions was not met, the party that knew the judge or had the available resources would be victorious. Furthermore, the judges had the agency to originate decrees. Not surprisingly, they did this without the permission of the King. As it turns out, these parliaments had configured a judicial system where they made the laws and then turned around and punished people for breaking these laws. Young had uncovered what he described as a horrible system of one-man rule.Youngs main points of unbalanced taxes, brutal penal codes, and the deceitful legal system help to bring into focus his feelings of why the French were doomed for a revolution. He does a wonderful job of rattling capturing the feeling of the typical Frenchmen at the time. Although he arrived in the kingdom to evaluate the conditions of the disgrace and other aspects of the farming environment, he seemed to forswear with a thorough understanding of French society in the late 1780s. The only bias shown in the piece might be in that Young only makes note of the thoughts, fears, and complaints of the working class citizens.From the reading, it is hard-fought to get a sense of how the people in power felt about day-to-day life. Because of this one-sided account, any reader would automatically find themselves cheering for the critical people and suppressing a growing offense for persons of authority. The principle value of Arthur Youngs Travels in France is that the people of this day and age studying the French Revolution have an excellent report of some of the events leading up to it. Young goes deeper into the major concerns of the day than the fair(a) textbook can.The reader very gets the opportunity to feel the pain of the topical anaesthetic townspeople. Textbooks try to hit the highlights of history, which sticks mainly to important kings and key politicians, where in pieces like Youngs, read ers get to understand the plight of the average Joe. Bibliography Stead, David. Arthur Young. EH. Net Encyclopedia 2003. http//eh. net / encyclopedia/article/stead. young Young, Arthur. Arthur Youngs Travels in France During the Years 1787, 1788, 1789. London George tam-tam and Sons, 1909.