"
Nor was this the most levelling of Turgot's arguments. He pointed out
that though originally the exemption from taxation, which the nobility
enjoyed, might have been defended on the ground that the nobles were
bound to yield military service without pay, such service had long
ceased to be performed, while on the contrary titles could be bought for
money. Hence every wealthy man became a noble when he pleased, and thus
exemption from taxation had come to present the line of cleavage between
the rich and poor. By this thrust the privileged classes felt themselves
wounded in their vitals, and the Parliament of Paris, the essence of
privilege, assumed their defence. To be binding, the edicts had to be
registered by the Parliament among the laws of France, and Parliament
declined to make registration on the ground that the edicts were
unconstitutional, as subversive of the monarchy and of the principle of
order. The opinion of the court was long, but a single paragraph gives
its purport: "The first rule of justice is to preserve to every one what
belongs to him: this rule consists, not only in preserving the rights of
property, but still more in preserving those belonging to the person,
which arise from the prerogative of birth and of position.
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