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PERCENT TAX, the word is deliberately used to encompass the whole collectivity of the society, so it does not mark as clear a distinction between government and governed as later generations would do. Juridically, the term means “estate” as in the phrase états généraux (Estates General), which designates the official hierarchy of French society at the time of writing; see d’Holbach’s REPRESENTATIVES for this usage. Socially, the term tends to mean “status” or “condition.”
franchise. Generally “exemption,” “privilege,” or “immunity,” it can also mean “freedom.” When referring to personal qualities, it can mean “openness,” “candor,” or “sincerity.” The term is used in SAVINGS, SLAVERY, HONOR, MASTERPIECES, and FIVE PERCENT TAX.
génie. Translated as “talent” in most cases. Its English cognate “genius” generally connotes a more extraordinary ability than its eighteenth-century equivalent tended to convey.2
les grands. Literally “the great.” The word was usually applied to the nobility during this period. To avoid ambiguity, we have generally adopted “grandees” in spite of its somewhat archaic flavor.
industrie. Generally a moral rather than economic category in this period, meaning a quality such as “resourcefulness,” “ingenuity,” or “industriousness.” Rarely does the term apply to manufacturing as a sector in our modern sense, and still less to factory industry, despite the fascination felt by Diderot and others for modern technology. We sometimes use the term “human industry” to avoid anachronism.
liberté. Normally “liberty,” although the specific context sometimes seemed to make “freedom” more advisable. There is no real French equivalent to “freedom,” although see franchise, above.
loi. Unlike droit, loi, translated as “law,” has more consistently the connotation of a command or prohibition, either divine or human, as in our phrase “laying down the law,” although it too broadened out metaphorically to include scientific regularities such as the “laws of motion.”
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mœurs. “Manners,” “morals” or “customs,” depending on the context. Sometimes we use “mores” when all of these meanings seem to be included.
morale. Sometimes “morality” as a practical code, sometimes “morals” as a subject of study.
pays and patrie. Pays is a general term for any distinct territory, whether city or region or province or nation. Patrie can also refer to these geographically diverse entities, but since it always means “natal land,” it emphasizes their human rather than their merely physical dimension and often carries a more emotional resonance. “Homeland” or “fatherland,” which are often used to translate patrie, strike us as strained and awkward options for a mainly American readership. Accordingly, in this anthology “country” will usually be used for either pays or patrie, but to preserve the distinction between them, we capitalize “Country” to indicate patrie and leave it uncapitalized for pays.
police. If it refers to an entire state, “administration” or even “government”; “regulations” if it refers to a specific institution within a state. Culturally, it can mark off the broader difference between civilized and precivilized societies, so a general term such as “civilization” or “law and order” sometimes seems best. “Police” occurs frequently in our selections, appearing in no fewer than nineteen of our entries.
pouvoir; puissance. In Synonymes françois [French synonyms] (Paris: Houry, 1736), 449–55, cited by Diderot in his grammar article AUTORITÉ [Authority], abbé Gabriel Girard distinguished between the French words pouvoir and puissance, both of which would generally be translated as “power.” Puissance, he suggested, refers to the combination of moral legitimacy (autorité) and force. It tends to be more abstract, impersonal, and inclusive than pouvoir; it is the word used to denote the branches of government—the executive, legislative, and judicial powers. Pouvoir on the other hand is exercised by subordinates; Diderot says it evokes fear rather than the grandeur evoked by puissance and that it arises from the personal attachment and connections between the subject and the holder of power.
It is not always clear how conscious the authors represented in this volume are of such niceties. In any case, the context is usually adequate to
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illuminate the intended inflection of meaning. For this reason, we have generally stuck with the English word “power” without further comment. There are occasions, however, such as in Boucher d’Argis’s PUBLIC LAW and in Damilaville’s FIVE PERCENT TAX, when the author’s usage has been distinctive enough to merit our highlighting it.
qualité. Meaning “status,” “title,” “nobility,” or “quality,” depending on context.
république. Sometimes “government by the people” as with the cognate term “republic,” but other times it is a generic category term, best conveyed by words like “polity” or “commonwealth.” We have attempted to avoid confusion by not overusing the former option. As might be imagined, it appears frequently in our collection, in no fewer than thirty-one entries.
revenu. Either “private income” or “public revenue,” depending on the context; the word appears in POLITICAL ARITHMETIC, FOUNDATION, GENEVA, CEREALS, ENGLISH PARLIAMENT, and RUTLAND.
revolution. Most often “revolution,” although with different and more diffuse connotations before 1789, meaning more like “vicissitudes” or “transformations” than the willful upheaval of an entire social and political system. The word appears in DESPOTISM, EULOGY FOR PRESIDENT MONTESQUIEU, and POLITICAL ECONOMY.
sauvage. “Savage,” which some authors distinguished carefully from “barbaric.” See Jaucourt’s entry SAVAGES.
société. Most often “society.” In some contexts, “company”; in others, “association,” where it has a more active connotation (see CITIZEN); and “firm” in a commercial context (see TRADING COMPANY for an example).
taille. Tax on persons or on property, depending upon the part of the country that is being referred to, but always a tax on the individual; translated in this edition with the cognate “taille.” See CEREALS, TAX, and INTENDANTS for this term.
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In the eighteenth century, the French pound (or franc, an older term still used for accounting purposes in the eighteenth century) was equal to twenty sols or sous, and a sol or sou was equal to twelve deniers (from L., denarius). On the high end, an écu, translated either as “silver crown” (for the recent period) or as “gold crown,” was the equivalent of three French pounds and a gold louis was worth twenty-four pounds. In England, one pound sterling was twenty shillings and one shilling equaled twelve pence. As a rough measure of cost of living, a Parisian construction worker in the middle of the eighteenth century would typically make about fifteen to twenty sous per day, or a very few hundred French pounds per year.1
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