¹ See, for example, Levasseur, E., Histoire des classes ouvrières et de l'industrie en France de 1789 à 1870, 2 vols. rev. edn (Paris, 1903), I, 8–29Google Scholar; Charles-H., Pouthas, ‘La Constituante et la classe ouvrière’, Annales révolutionnaires, IV (1911), 153–82Google Scholar; Saint-Léon, Etienne Martin, Histoire des corporations de métiers depuis leurs origines jusqu' à; leur suppression en 1791 (Paris, 1922)Google Scholar; Jaffé, Grace M., Le mouvement ouvrier a Paris pendant la Revolution franç aise (1789–1791) (Paris, 1924)Google Scholar; Albert, Mathiez, ‘Les corporations ont-elles été supprimées en principe dans la nuit du 4 août 1789?’, Annales historiques de la Révolution française, VIII (1931), 252–6Google Scholar; Sewell, William H. Jr, Work and revolution in France: The language of labour from the old regime to 1848 (Cambridge, 1980), pp. 86–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Liana, Vardi, ‘The abolition of the guilds during the French revolution’, French Historical Studies, XV (1988), 704–17Google Scholar. The issue of the fate of guilds on 4 August is raised by Gail Bossenga, but is outside the framework of her superb study of Lille. See Gail, Bossenga, The politics of privilege: old regime and revolution in Lille (Cambridge, 1991), pp. 168–9.Google Scholar

² Sewell, , Work and revolution, pp. 72–91Google Scholar; Kaplan, Steven Laurence, ‘Social classification and representation in the corporate world of eighteenth-century France: Turgot's “Carnival”’, in Work in France: representations, meaning, organization, and practice, Kaplan, Steven Laurence and Koepp, Cynthia J. (eds. ) (Ithaca, 1986), pp. 176–228Google Scholar. It is illustrative of the fragility of the compromise, however, that Vardi, , ‘The abolition of the guilds’, pp. 715–17Google Scholar, reasserts the primacy of economic factors in their abolition during the revolution.

³ Sewell, , Work and revolution, pp. 78–87Google Scholar; Vardi, ‘The abolition of guilds’; Michael, Sonenscher, Work and wages: natural law, politics and the eighteenth-century French trades (Cambridge, 1989).Google Scholar

⁴ See Carla, Hesse, Publishing and cultural politics in revolutionary Paris, 1789–1810 (Berkeley, 1991), P. 55.Google Scholar

⁵ See Hyslop, Beatrice Fry, French nationalism in 1789 according to the general cahiers, rev. edn (New York, 1968), pp. 127–8Google Scholar; Taylor, George V., ‘Revolutionary and nonrevolutionary content in the Cahiers of 1789: an interim report’, French Historical Studies, VII (1972), 495Google Scholar. On opposition to them, see Hyslop, ibid. p. 133.

⁶ See the discussion of the rewording of the original motion in Mathiez, , ‘Les corporations ont-elles été supprimées en principe dans la nuit de 4 août 1789?’Google Scholar; see also Sewell, , Work and revolution, p. 86.Google Scholar

⁷ See Procès-verbal de l'Assemblée nationale, No. 40 bis (4 August 1789), p. 41; see also A. N. C 30, dossier 250, document 44.

⁸ By more contemporaneous, I am referring to letters written or entries made before the official decree was formulated. See, for example, A. D. Ain 1 Mi I, letter of Garron de la Bevière to his wife, 6 Aug. 1789; A. M. Strasbourg AA 2003, fo. 120; Jacques-Samuel, Dinochau, Histoire philosophique et politique de l'Assemblée nationale, par un député de communes de B****. Mois d'août. (Paris, 1789), p. 24. [B. H. V. P. 959 998]Google Scholar; Adrien-Cyprien, Duquesnoy, Journal sur l'Assemblée constituante, 3 mai 1789–3 avril 1790, Crevecoeur, Robert de (ed. ), 2 vols. (Paris, 1894), 1, 269Google Scholar; Etats-Généraux. Bulletin de la correspondance de la députation du tiers-état de la sénéchaussée de Brest (Brest, 1789–1790), p. 235Google Scholar; Etats-Généraux. Bulletin de la correspondance du Tiers-Etat, arrêté au Bureau de Rennes, 12 Aug. 1789.Google Scholar

⁹ On newspaper reports, see, for example, Affiches des Evéchés et Lorraine, 13 Aug. 1789Google Scholar. For handbills that proclaimed their abolition, see Séance de la nuit du 4 au 5 août 1789, pour former la constitution (B. N. L^e29 103); Sommaire des articles convenus le 4 août 1789, pour former la constitution (B. N. L^e29 104); Articles de l'arrêté de l'Assemblée nationale du 4 août 1789, depuis neuf heures du soir, à deux du matin & dont le décret sera passé ce matin (Grenoble, 1789) [Newberry Library, Case FRC 694]Google Scholar; Arrêté par l'Asemblée nationale du 4 août 1789, depuis deux heures du soir à deux heures du matin. Contenant vingt articles de constitution connues par un courier extraordinaire, envoyé à Lyon le 7 du courant par les députés aux Etats-Généraux (Marseille, 1789)Google Scholar [Newberry Library, Case FRC 639]. On the way in which they circulated, see the example of Bourges in Harvard University Fr 1380. 20*, fos. 288–9. For other indications that the abolition of guilds was expected, see the journal of the bookseller Hardy, B. N. MSS Fonds Français 6687, fo. 422. See also B. N. MSS Fonds Français 13713, fo. 116.

¹⁰ See Journal d'Etat et du Citoyen, 13 Aug. 1789.Google Scholar

¹¹ Journal de la Ville, par Jean-Pierre-Louis de Luchet, 6 Aug. 1789, 7 Aug. 1789Google Scholar. Similarly, Le Point du Jour, generally regarded as reliable, indicated that their reform was envisaged, but also made clear that the initial goal had been their suppression. See Le Point du Jour, 7 Aug. 1789.

¹² l'Oracle François, dédié á l'Assemblée Nationale, au Roi et à toute la Nation (Paris, n. d. ) [B.H.V.P.Google Scholar

¹³ (de Jabin, M.), Liberté du Commerce, abolition des maîtres et jurandes, suppression des moines (Paris, n. d. ) [B. H. V. P. 963 303].Google Scholar

¹⁴ Chronique de Paris, 4 Sept. 1789.Google Scholar

¹⁵ Much to the consternation of one unnamed deputy who complained in the Assembly about the dropping of the article on guilds by the committee charged with drawing up the decrees. See Bulletin de l'Assemblée Nationale, 8 Aug. 1789.Google Scholar

¹⁶ See A. M. Le Havre D² 1, fol. 99V.

¹⁷ A. M. Le Havre D³ 38, no. 40, letter of 20 Aug. 1789. This development accords with the revision of articles mentioned by the Journal de la ville, par Jean-Pierre-Louis de Luchet and with the readjustment of goals specified by Le Point du Jour. For more on the internal debate in the National Assembly, see the letter from the deputy Baco to the bureau of correspondence in Nantes in Etats-Généraux. Journal de la Correspondance de Nantes, 10 vols. (Nantes, 1789–1791), 11, 134Google Scholar. On the continuation of this internal division, see A. M. Strasbourg AA 2005^a, fo. 19.

¹⁸ On the disorders in 1776, see Kaplan, Steven Laurence, ‘Social classification’, pp. 199–201Google Scholar. For useful insights on the way in which the guilds were woven into the social, political and economic fabric of society, see Shephard, Edward J. Jr., ‘Social and geographic mobility of the eighteenth-century guild artisan: An analysis of guild receptions in Dijon, 1700–90’, in Work in France, Kaplan, and Koepp, (eds. ), pp. 97–130Google Scholar; David, Garrioch, Neighbourhood and community in Paris, 1740–1790 (Cambridge, 1986), especially pp. 99–115Google Scholar; Michael, Sonenscher, The hatters of eighteenth-century France (Berkeley, 1987)Google Scholar; Hoock, J., ‘Réunions de métiers et marché régional: Les marchands réunis de la ville de Rouen au début du XVIII^e siècle’, Annales: E.S.C., XLIII (1988), 301–22CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Gail, Bossenga, ‘Protecting merchants: guilds and commercial capitalism in eighteenth-century France’, French Historical Studies, XV (1988), 693–703Google Scholar. Indeed, guilds were so deeply ingrained that outside of Paris guilds had formed the basis for primary assemblies in 1789 for elections to the estates-general. To give but one example, see A. N. B^a 12, liasse 7, dossier 7, documents 1, 8.

¹⁹ See A. M. Bordeaux D 85, fo. 107V; A. N. D IV 32, dossier 767, document 14; A. N. D IV 49, dossier 1400, document 7; Chronique de Paris, 4 Sept. 1789. See also Vardi, , ‘The abolition of guilds’, p. 712.Google Scholar

²⁰ See Michael, Sonenscher, ‘Journeymen, the courts and the French trades 1781–1791’, Past and Present, CXIV (02. 1987), 77–109, especially pp. 86–90Google Scholar; Jean-Sylvain, Bailly, Mémoires d'un témoin de la Révolution, 3 vols. (Paris, 1804), III, 89Google Scholar. It appears that the new and uncertain situation was one that contemporaries found disquieting. See Chronique de Paris, 27 Sept. 1789.Google Scholar

²¹ Procés-verbal de l'Assemblée générale des représentans de la commune de Paris, 18 Aug. 1789, pp. 31–3Google Scholar; Bailly, , Mémoires, III, 90–1.Google Scholar

²² See Chronique de Paris, 14 Sept. 1789. On the trade in general, see Hubert, Bourgin, L'Industrie de la boucherie à Paris pendant la Révolution (Paris, 1911)Google Scholar. For a broader consideration, see Kaplan, Steven L., Provisioning Paris: merchants and millers in the grain and flour trade during the eighteenth century (Ithaca, 1984).Google Scholar

²³ See A.N.T 1373, dossier Martin, (Philibert), Mémoire au Roi concernant la communauté des maîtres perruquiers…Google Scholar, which related the physical violence associated with seizures against unauthorized practitioners.

²⁴ See Procès-verbal de l'Assemblée générale des représentans de la Commune de Paris, 26 Sept. 1789, pp. 3–4Google Scholar. Bailly reiterated the point in his memoirs; see Bailly, , Memoires, III, 89, 91Google Scholar. See also B.H.V. P. CP 4867, letter of Leclerc, 3 Aug. 1789; letter of wigmakers' guild to mayor and representatives of commune, 3 Sept. 1789; Chronique de Paris, 2 Oct. 1789Google Scholar. See also A. N. D IV 65, dossier 1957, document 3, for a similar request to the national assembly from the wigmakers of Castres. Similarly, the Paris book guild made a gift of 20, 000 livres to the national assembly on 9 Sept. 1789, and soon after, on 12 Nov. 1789, requested the suppression of private unlicensed printing shops that had been estabished in Paris. See Hesse, , Publishing and cultural politics, p. 51.Google Scholar

²⁵ See, for example, A. N. Y 13016^B, entry of 12 Dec. 1789.

²⁶ A. N. C 98, dossier 128, document 30. This document is undated, but it is mentioned in Procès-verbal de l'Assemblée nationale, No. 81 (22 Sept. 1789), pp. 2–3.Google Scholar

²⁷ A. N. D IV 20, dossier 412, documents 1–2. For similar arguments by the Paris book guild in February 1790, to maintain their privileges, see Hesse, , Publishing and cultural politics, pp. 52–3.Google Scholar

²⁸ A.M. Bordeaux D 85, fos. 107V–109.

²⁹ A.N. D IV 64, dossier 1924, document 1. It was the August decrees rather than the declaration of rights to which they were referring, but it is noteworthy that they thought of them as of equal importance.

³⁰ See Chronique de Paris, 10 July 1790Google Scholar; Courier Provincial, July 1790 (no. 12)Google Scholar. See also Hesse, , Publishing and cultural politics, p. 49Google Scholar, on the continuing, albeit reduced, activities of the Paris book guild in 1790.

³¹ Courier de Madon, 1 June 1790.Google Scholar

³² A.N. D IV 33, dossier 806^Dis, documents 4–5. The terms are taken from the petition, but the issue was clearly less that of the journeymen not being able to find any work than whether they would work in continued subordination or not. See also Journal des départments, districts et municipalités de la ci-devant province de Bretagne, 26 Sept. 1790.Google Scholar

³³ There had, of course, been municipal revolutions in the summer of 1789 that had replaced some urban leadership, but officially, at least, those in office were products of the old system.

³⁴ A. N. D IV 61, dossier 1827, document 1.

³⁵ A. N. D IV 61, dossier 1827, document 2.

³⁸ On the request of the goldsmiths, see A. N. D XIII 1, dossier 1, undated address of goldsmiths to national assembly; letter of Tournachoy(?), 10 Oct. 1790. For the discussion in the assembly, see A. N. C 45, dossier 415, document 4; Procès-verbal de l'Assemblée nationale, No. 438 (II Oct. 1790), PP. 5–6.Google Scholar

³⁷ For the letter of the deputy, see A. D. Dordogne O E DEP 5004, no. 15, letter of de la Rocque to municipal officers of Périgueux, 15 May 1790; on the report of the committee's agenda, A. N. AA 29, dossier 901.

³⁸ On the committee of finances, see Camille, Bloche, Procès-verbaux du Comité des Finances de l'Assemblée constituante, 2 vols. (Rennes, 1922–1923), I, 307–13.Google Scholar

³⁹ See A. N. AF 1* II, fos. 2, 27V, 39V, 43, 45V, 145–145V.

⁴⁰ A. D. Dordogne O E DEP 5004, no. 9, letter of Fournier to municipal officers of Périgueux, 4 July 1790. The committee in question was almost certainly the committee of agriculture and commerce, for Fournier's comment about the timing of its report being delayed because of unrest was doubtless a justification of its conduct.

⁴¹ A. N. F¹² 761, dossier Lille, letter to committee of constitution, 13 Oct. 1790.

⁴² A. N. D IV 46, dossier 1334, document 4. A similar situation had arisen earlier in Paris. See A. N. D XIII I, dossier 12, documents 1–2. On the competing claims of freedom of the press versus privilege, see Hesse, Publishing and cultural politics.

⁴³ On the sensitive nature of printers, see Hesse, , Publishing and cultural politics, pp. 10–13.Google Scholar

⁴⁴ See, for example, A. N. D IV 65, dossier 1957, document 3.

⁴⁶ See A. N. C 124, dossier 404², document 74; Procès-verbal de l'Assemblée nationale, No. 505 (18 Dec. 1790), p. 13Google Scholar. See also A. N. D IV 63, dossier 1909, document 1.

⁴⁶ See A. N. D IV 49, dossier 1400, document 7.

⁴⁷ A. N. D IV 49, dossier 1400, document 1.

⁴⁸ A. N. D IV 6, dossier 88, document 5.

⁴⁹ It is clear that there was a strong belief that action against guilds was imminent. See, for example, A. N. D IV 22, dossier 474, document 10; A. N. D IV 33, dossier 805 bis, document 1; A. N. D IV 65, dossier 1957, documents 1, 2.

⁵⁰ Nevertheless, in Jan. 1791, the municipality of Paris was still upholding the prerogatives of the Paris book guild. See Hesse, , Publishing and cultural politics, pp. 49–51.Google Scholar

⁵¹ A. N. D IV 43, dossier 1192, document 2.

⁵² For the passage, see Courier Français, 13 Oct. 1790Google Scholar. A search of other sources offers no corroboration for the remarks reported in the Courier Français. See, for example, Journal des Débats et des Décrets, 11–12 Oct. 1790Google Scholar; see also the account provided by members of the national assembly in de la Brardière, Urbain-René Pilastre and Leclerc, H. B., Correspondance de MM. les députés du Département de Maine-et-Loire, avec leurs commettans, relativement à l'Assemblée Nationale, 10 vols. (Angers, 1789–1791), VI, 607.Google Scholar

⁵³ A. M. Bordeaux 1 81, no. 56.

⁵⁴ A. N. D IV 32, dossier 767, document 14.

⁵⁵ A. M. Bordeaux D 88, fos. 130V–131.

⁵⁶ Le Spectateur National et le Modérateur, 30 Jan. 1791Google Scholar. The situation of wigmakers throughout France was a special one, for they had often been forced to buy a large number of brevets from the crown. As a result, their financial condition was often weak, and it is possible that municipal governments, for fiscal reasons, may have been more particularly protective of them. For a masterful situating of the guilds in the fiscal structure of the old regime, see Bossenga, , The politics of privilege, p. 127Google Scholar, for the wigmakers. See also A. N. D IV 49, dossier 1400, document 7. The national assembly ultimately granted them special consideration by not using the 1771 valuation as the basis for the liquidation price of their office. For more on the national assembly and the liquidation of venal offices, see William, Doyle, ‘The price of offices in pre-revolutionary France’, Historical Journal, XXVII (1984), 831–60.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ See A.N. Y 13017, entry of 1 Dec. 1790; A. N. D IV 49, dossier 1400, document 7; A. N. D IV 1, dossier I^bis, document 19; Procès-verbal de l'Assemblée nationale, No. 489 (2 Dec. 1790), p. 31.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ Journal des départements, districts et municipalités de la ci-devant province de Bretagne; et des amis de la constitution, VIII, 377.Google Scholar

⁵⁹ See A. N. AF 1* 11, fos. 193, 203, 212V–213, 222V–223; Vardi, , ‘The abolition of guilds’, pp. 713–14.Google Scholar

⁶⁰ A. N. D IV 41, dossier 1102, documents 19–21.

⁶¹ It is not entirely clear, but this almost certainly appears to be a reference to the opinion given by the committee of the constitution to the wigmakers of Bordeaux.

⁶² A. N. D IV 53, dossier 1540, document 1. Indeed, a similar situation prevailed in Perpignan, and the municipal officers there likewise sought guidance from the national assembly. Merchants from outside of Perpignan had established shops and were openly selling their goods, but the guild of the city had lodged a complaint with the municipal authorities, seeking to have the latter compel the newcomers to conform to the law. Torn, they said, between the public interest resulting from freedom of commerce and the apparent justice of the petition of the masters, the municipal officers decided to consult the assembly before making a decision. They solicited an answer as to whether a French citizen from outside of a town in which guilds existed had the right to open a shop and, if they did not, whether the municipality should rigorously enforce against them the regulations governing guilds. See A. N. D IV 55, dossier 1592, document 4.

⁶³ A. N. D IV 56, dossier 1654, document 2; A. N. D IV 55, dossier 1605, document 1.

⁶⁴ A. N. D IV 57, dossier 1674, document 3.

⁶⁵ A. N. AF I* II, fos. 234–40.

⁶⁶ Ibid. fo. 240. It appears that the committee considered d'Allrde's project an encroachment into their domain and did not intend to consider it at all. The committee of agriculture and commerce was responsible for reforming customs duties, so there can be little doubt that the initiative of the committee on taxation was, in fact, an intrusion. See Kenneth, Margerison, P.-L. Roederer: political thought and practice during the French revolution (Philadelphia, 1983), p. 34Google Scholar. The papers of the committee of agriculture and commerce are limited to one carton, A. N. D XIII I, and they shed no light whatsoever on the abolition of the guilds. On the central role of committees, see the letter of 27 Aug. 1790 from William Short to Thomas, Jefferson in The papers of Thomas Jefferson, Boyd, Julian P. (ed. ), 25 vols. (Princeton, 1950– ), XVII, 441.Google Scholar

⁶⁷ Ibid. fo. 252.

⁶⁸ It was, in fact, with only a few minor changes, the same report he had presented earlier to the committee of agriculture and commerce.

⁶⁹ A. N. C 54, dossier 537, document 10; Procès-verbal de l'Assemblée nationale, No. 563 (15 Feb. 1791), pp. 4, 5–6Google Scholar. See also de la Brardière et Leclerc, Pilastre, Correspondance de MM. les députés du Département de Maine-et-Loire, VII, 176–7Google Scholar; Courier de Madon, 15 Feb. 1791.Google Scholar

⁷⁰ See Procès-verbal de l'Assemblée nationale, No. 564 (16 Feb. 1791), pp. 5–7, 10–16Google Scholar, but it does not mention the committees involved; Assemblée nationale, corps administratifs et nouvelles politiques et littéraires de l'Europe, réunis au Journal de Versailles, des départemes de Paris, de Seine et d'Oise, 16 Feb. 1791. See also Vardi, , ‘The abolition of the guilds’, pp. 714–17Google Scholar. For the completion of this project, see the supplementary legislation in Procès-verbal de l'Assemblée nationale, No. 578 (2 Mar. 1791), p. IIGoogle Scholar; Procès-verbal de l'Assemblée nationale, No. 604 (28 Mar. 1791), pp. 14–18.Google Scholar

⁷¹ Procés-verbal de l'Assemblée nationale, No. 134 (25 Nov. 1789), p. 7.Google Scholar

⁷² On the fiscal dimension of guilds under the old regime, see René, Nigeon, Etat financier des corporations parisiennes d'arts et métiers au XVIII^e siècle (Paris, 1934)Google Scholar; Bossenga, The politics of privilege; Sonenscher, , Work and wages, p. 290Google Scholar, although I disagree, of course, with his assessment of why the committee on taxation handled the abolition of guilds.

⁷³ Journal des décrets de l'Assemblée nationale, pour les habitans des campagnes, 16 Feb. 1791.Google Scholar

⁷⁴ The greater vitality of guilds in the departments is evident not only in the reports of their harassment of journeymen, but in the petitions they sent to the national assembly as well. See A. N. D IV 15, dossier 281, document 2; A. N. D IV 21, dossier 459, document 11; A. N. D IV 22, dossier 474, document 10; A. N. D IV 32, dossier 767, document 14; A. N. D IV 33, dossier 805^bis, document 1; A. N. D IV 40, dossier 1092, document 4; A. N. D IV 40, dossier 1092, document 15; A. N. D IV 63, dossier 1909, document 1; A. N. D IV 65, dossier 1957, documents 1–2; A. N. C 124, dossier 4042, document 74.

⁷⁵ Le Spectateur National et le Modérateur, 1 Mar. 1791Google Scholar; on the effort to preserve them, A. N. C 54, dossier 537, document 12³; A. M. Strasbourg AA 2005^a, fo. 19.

⁷⁶ A. N. C 131, dossier 461, document 58; Procès-verbal de l'Assemblée nationale, No. 585 (9 Mar. 1791), p. 2Google Scholar. For another example from an unknown location, see A. N. D IV 63, dossier 1918, document 22.

⁷⁷ A. M. Bordeaux D 139, fo. 91. See also Hesse, , Publishing and cultural politics, pp. 56–7Google Scholar, for the transition from guild to patente for the Paris book guild.

⁷⁸ See, for example, A. N. D IV 51, dossier 1488, document 20; A. N. C 127, dossier 428, document 42. Recent treatments of the compagnonnages include Truant, Cynthia M., ‘Solidarity and symbolism among journeymen artisans’, Comparative Studies in Society and History, XXI (1979), 214–26CrossRefGoogle Scholar, and ‘Independent and insolent: journeymen and their “Rites” in the old regime workplace’, in Work in France, Kaplan, and Koepp, (eds. ), pp. 131–73Google Scholar; David, Garrioch and Michael, Sonenscher, ‘Compagnonnages, confraternities and associations of journeymen in eighteenth-century Paris’, European History Quarterly, XVI (1986), 28–45Google Scholar. More broadly, the d'Allarde law did not address the issue of regulation. Few believed that the suppression of guilds meant the suppression of all regulations, but no one was certain how the world of work would be governed. See, for example, A. M. Bordeaux D 227, no. 27, letter of municipal officers of Bordeaux to municipal officers of Paris, 15 Aug. 1791.

⁷⁹ A. M. Bordeaux D 90, fo. 125V.

⁸⁰ A. M. Bordeaux D 139, fo. 49V.

⁸¹ Journal de la cour et de la ville, 13 June 1791Google Scholar. See also Le Spectateur National et le Modérateur, 29 Apr. 1791, 23 May 1791.Google Scholar

⁸² See Le Spectateur National et le Modérateur, 28 Apr. 1791, 3 May 1791, 23 May 1791Google Scholar; Assemblée nationale, corps administratifs, et nouvelles politiques et littéraires de l'Europe, réunis au Journal de Versailles, des départemens de Paris, de Seine et d'Oise, 17 May 1791.Google Scholar

⁸³ See Urbain-René, Pilastre de la Brardière and Leclerc, J. B., Correspondance de MM. les députés du Département de Maine-et-Loire, IX, 357.Google Scholar

⁸⁴ See Procès-verbal de l'Assemblée nationale, No. 680 (14 June 1791), pp. 7–12Google Scholar. The comment is found in Le Spectateur National et le Modérateur, 15 June 1791Google Scholar. For additional consideration of the Le Chapelier law, see Jaffé, , Le Mouvement ouvrier a Paris, pp. 101–207Google Scholar; Sonenscher, , ‘Journeymen, the courts and the French trades 1781–1791’, pp. 105–6.Google Scholar

⁸⁵ Ibid. See also A. N. C 711, dossier 693, document 17; Journal de la cour et de la ville, 15 June 1791Google Scholar. For an illustration of the ideal envisioned by the Assembly, see A. N. D IV 35, dossier 868, document 14.

⁸⁶ See Procès-verbal de l'Assemblée nationale, No. 680 (14 June 1791), p. 8Google Scholar. See also Journal de la cour et de la ville, 15 June 1791Google Scholar, for an indication of the way in which the law was interpreted primarily as a measure against corporate bodies, a point also emphasized by Sewell, , Work and revolution, pp. 88–91Google Scholar. In this argument I disagree with Sonenscher, , Work and wages, pp. 351–2Google Scholar, that the law was tied to the assembly's effort to limit the right of petition. Sonenscher admits the narrow scope of the Le Chapelier law and his linkage of it to the law of 10 May 1791 is largely by inference. Indeed, it could equally be argued that the law of 10 May 1791 reinforced the provision that meetings with political goals should convene by section rather than by trade, profession or corporation. For more on the primacy of constitutional ideals, see Jean-Joseph, Regnault, La Constitution française, mise à la portée de tout le monde, 2 vols. (Bar-le-Duc, 1792), I, 85–6.Google Scholar

⁸⁷ Michael, Sonenscher, Work and wages, pp. 52–4, 60Google Scholar. I disagree, however, with his argument that there was an assumption that natural rights survived where the law was silent. Much of Sonenscher's evidence concerns contested contracts or a rhetorical tradition employing the terms slavery and liberty and does not demonstrate a recognized autonomy for natural rights. To give but one example, on pp. 52–3 Sonenscher cites a challenge to seigneurial rights on milling, drawing from the arguments presented to the parlement of Paris the conclusion that there was an assumption that natural rights survived where the law was silent. There is, however, no indication that the judges accepted that argument by ruling in favour of the inhabitants of the village, for the outcome of the case is not mentioned. Legal representatives sought to present as many arguments in favour of their case as possible, but they were not always recognized or accepted. It would perhaps be more accurate to state that to the extent that the concept – if not the term – was raised in litigation, there was an awareness of the idea of natural rights in some form.

⁸⁸ Ibid. p. 68. Only in Aug. 1789, however, with the condemnation of privilege and the promulgation of the declaration of rights, did an assumption of natural rights begin to take hold, a development evident in a change in the quality of labour disputes. Until then, workers had generally resorted to the courts in pursuit of specific rights. See Sonenscher, , ‘Journeymen, the courts and the French trades’. After Aug. 1789Google Scholar, with a much greater awareness of natural rights, they acted in a more independent fashion and largely bypassed the courts.

⁸⁹ Sewell, , Work and revolution in FranceGoogle Scholar; Sibalis, Michael D., ‘Corporatism after the corporations: the debate on restoring the guilds under Napoleon I and the Restoration’, French Historical Studies, XV (1988), 718–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar