demalgamating

Updated: May 4, 2025

The Constituent Assembly had attempted to form a code that might counteract the spirit of legal disputation, for which the French are so remarkable; but this single decree will give birth to more processes than all the pandects, canons, and droits feodaux, accumulated since the days of Charlemagne; and I doubt, though one half the nation were lawyers, whether they might not find sufficient employment in demalgamating the property of the other half.

An English Lady - A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Part IV., 1795: Described in a Series of Letters from an English Lady: with General: and Incidental Remarks on the French Character and Manners

The Constituent Assembly had attempted to form a code that might counteract the spirit of legal disputation, for which the French are so remarkable; but this single decree will give birth to more processes than all the pandects, canons, and droits feodaux, accumulated since the days of Charlemagne; and I doubt, though one half the nation were lawyers, whether they might not find sufficient employment in demalgamating the property of the other half.

An English Lady - A Residence in France During the Years 1792, 1793, 1794 and 1795, Complete: Described in a Series of Letters from an English Lady: with General: and Incidental Remarks on the French Character and Manners