234 LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC MEN.

Marseilles and Aix, deputy of the tiers etat in the ap-proaching assembly of the states-general. He gavethe preference to the latter, as circumstances renderedit doiubtful whether his election for Marseilles would beadmitted by his colleagues.

We now arrive at the epoch when he developed thewhole force of his genius, and acquired immortality, asthe great leader of a revolution which, at its first out-break, commanded the sympathy and respect of theworld which looked on; beholding with gladness andhope the overthrow of feudal abuses, and the restora-tion of the oppressed majority of the French nation tothe rights of men and citizens.

The first steps that Mirabeau trod towards greatnesswere taken on slippery ground. The eyes of the crowdsought for him with avidity, during the procession ofthe king and states-general to the church of St. Louis ,on the 4th May. He appeared, with his dark shaggyhair, his beetling brows, and luminous eyes, steppingproudly on. A murmur of disapprobation was raised ;— he looked round, and all was silent ; yet in thatmoment he felt the struggle, the combat that wouldensue: his fiery nature made him also, perhaps, relyon victory. When the names of the deputies werecalled over, and those of other popular men were ap-plauded, hisses of disapprobation followed his. Theydid not daunt him : he walked across the chamber to hisplace with an air of resolution and haughtiness that spokeof perseverance and vigour in the coming struggle.

To give himself notoriety and weight, he commencedby publishing a journal of the proceedings of thechambers. This publication was seized by govern-ment, and he then changed its title to that of letters tohis constituents. He excited animosity by this- publi-cation in the chamber itself, but it added to his weightand influence.

The first combat of the tiers £tat with the two otherchambers is well known. They demanded that theirconsultations should be held in common, while the