
The interior history of the reign of Louis XV is even sadder than the history of the wars.
A revolution is inevitable.
The privileged orders, nobility and clergy, still enjoy feudal rights which they do not deserve any more by their services.
The people are crushed taxes and yet the Treasury is empty.
Justice is very unequal, according to the country and the condition of the people; the defendants and condemned are subjected to torture.
The army of line is recruited by soliciting, and the militia by the drawing of lots among the poor; the ranks are reserved for the noble ones.
The royalty is absolute; the king, surrounded of his court, is as above humanity.
Such institutions are in disagreement with the ideas and manners.
Great writers, such as Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Diderot, animate the public opinion, show the need for the reforms, and study the means of curing the abuses.
