| In the private realm of the family, Edme's
patriarchal governance resembled that of the well-loved, enlightened monarch. Guided by
reason and a good heart--in true Rousseauian fashion--his rule over wife, children, and
servants was as a worthy example for imitation. In the public spere of politics, the
patriarchal tradition was melded not with monarchical but with republican forms. Sacy, he
wrote approvingly, "resembled in many respects the Republics of Old.”
. . . it is governed like a large family; everything is decided by a plurality of votes
in the assemblies which are held in the public square on Sundays and holidays after the
masse and which are summoned by the sound of the great bell. It is these assemblies that
elect the syndics, whose functions resemble closely those of the consuls of the Romans,
the tax collectors, the field warders for the security of the cultivated land and the
vines, and finally the communal shepherd. (pp. 103)
What should we make of this description of Sacy's village government? Was it as
participatory or as "democratic" as suggested here?
Or was the claimed republicanism a fabrication? A hopeful fabrication in a novel that,
after all, was devoted to celebrating rustic virtues?
Village Politics
(Engraving by Jazet, 1820)
There are ample reasons for believing that poetic license and literary imitation were
clearly at work.
- The claim that Sacy resembled an ancient republic followed the example of Jean-Jacques
Rousseau. Although the two never met, Restif found in the great philosophe a
guiding light and source of inspiration, a man of humble origins--like the author
himself--whose brilliant writings brought deserved fame. Decades before Restif set
pen to paper, Rousseau, the proponent of modern democracy in the Social Contract
(1762), paid hommage to his native Geneva by portraying it as a virtuous republic.
This was the Geneva of Rousseau's hopeful imagination, for, in reality, it was an
oligarchy dominated by a few burgher clans. In imitation of Rousseau, the famous
"Citizen of Geneva," Restif portrayed Sacy as a village where the solid virtures
of Sparta or Republican Rome were still alive.
- Restif was also following intellectual fashion. Rousseau was but one of a growing
number of writers and artists who shared a renewed interest in ancient Sparta, Republican
Rome, and the idea of republic generally. This enthusiasm was part of the critical spirit
of the Enlightenment and served as a challenge to despotism. Talk of classical
republics was "in the air" of Paris and circulated readily in the print shops
where Restif worked as a proofreader. An ardent borrower, Restif absorbed all this
and gave it expression in his works.
In addition, the political arrangements everywhere favored the rule by one or the few
over the many.
- In monarchical France, it was an era of aristocratic domination.
- And in the rural Burgundy of Sacy and other villages, the system of seigneurial
lordship, which was stronger there than in other regions of kingdom, buttressed
aristocratic power.
[ Officholding ] [ Tables ] [ Conclusion ]
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