第 84 节
作者:开了      更新:2021-02-18 23:01      字数:9320
  save public edifices and woods; is to be cut up into as many equal
  lots as there are heads; the lots to be drawn for; and each
  individual to take possession of his or her portion。'58' The
  Operation is carried out; for 〃those who are least well off are
  infinitely flattered by it。〃 In the district of Arcis…sur…Aube;
  there are not a dozen communes out of ninety in which more than two…
  thirds of the voters had the good sense to pronounce against it。
  》From this time forth the commune ceases to be an independent
  proprietor; it has nothing to fall back upon。  In case of distress
  it is obliged to lay on extra taxes and obtain; if it can; a few
  additional sous。  Its future revenue is at present in the tightly
  buttoned pockets of the new proprietors。  …  The prevalence of
  short…sighted views is once more due to the covetousness of
  individuals。  Whether national or communal; it is always public
  interest which succumbs; and it succumbs always under the
  usurpations of indigent minorities; at one time through the
  feebleness of public authority; which dares not oppose their
  violence; and at another through the complicity of public authority;
  which has conferred upon them the rights of the majority。
  IV。
  Cupidity of tenants。  …  The third and fourth jacquerie。  …
  Brittany and other provinces in 1790 and 1791。  …  The burning of
  chateaux。  …  Title…deeds destroyed。  …  Refusal of claims。  …
  Destruction of reservoirs。  …  Principal characteristics; prime
  motive and ruling passion of the revolution
  When there is a lack of public force for the protection of public
  property; there is also a lack of it for the protection of private
  property; for the same greed and the same needs attack both。  Let a
  man owe anything either to the State or to an individual; and the
  temptation not to pay is equally the same。  In both cases it
  suffices to find a pretext for denying the debt; in finding this
  pretext the cupidity of the tenant is as good as the selfishness of
  the tax…payer。  Now that the feudal system is abolished let nothing
  remain of it: let there be no more seignorial claims。  〃If the
  Assembly has maintained some of them; yonder in Paris; it did so
  inadvertently or through corruption: we shall soon hear of all being
  suppressed。  In the meantime we will relieve ourselves; and burn the
  agreements in the places where they are kept。〃
  Such being the argument; the jacquerie breaks out afresh: in truth;
  it is permanent and universal。  Just as in a body in which some of
  the elements of its vital substance are affected by an organic
  disease; the evil is apparent in the parts which seem to be sound:
  even where as yet no outbreak has occurred; one is imminent;
  constant anxiety; a profound restlessness; a low fever; denote its
  presence。  Here; the debtor does not pay; and the creditor is afraid
  to prosecute him。  In other places isolated eruptions occur。  At
  Auxon;'59' on an estate spared by the great jacquerie of July; 1789;
  the woods are ravaged; and the peasants; enraged at being denounced
  by the keepers; march to the chateau; which is occupied by an old
  man and a child; everybody belonging to the village is there; men
  and women; they hew down the barricaded door with their axes; and
  fire on the neighbors who come to the assistance of its inmates。  …
  In other places; in the districts of Saint…étienne and Montbrison;
  〃the trees belonging to the proprietors are carried away with
  impunity; and the walls of their grounds and terraces are
  demolished; the complainants being threatened with death or with the
  sight of the destruction of their dwellings。〃 Near Paris; around
  Montargis; Nemours; and Fontainebleau; a number of parishes refuse
  to pay the tithes and ground…rent (champart) which the Assembly has
  a second time sanctioned; gibbets are erected and the collectors are
  threatened with hanging; while; in the neighborhood of Tonnerre; a
  mob of debtors fire upon the body of police which comes to enforce
  the claims。  …  Near Amiens; the Comtesse de la Mire;'60' on her
  estate of Davencourt; is visited by the municipal authorities of the
  village; who request her to renounce her right to ground…rent
  (champart) and thirds (tiers)。  She refuses and they insist; and she
  refuses again; when they inform her that 〃 some misfortune will
  happen to her。〃 In effect; two of the municipal officers cause the
  tocsin to be rung; and the whole village rushes to arms。  One of the
  domestics has an arm broken by a ball; and for three hours the
  countess and her two children are subject to the grossest insults
  and to blows: she is forced to sign a paper which she is not allowed
  to read; and; in warding off the stroke of a saber; her arm is cleft
  from the elbow to the wrist; the chateau is pillaged; and she owes
  her escape to the zeal of some of her servants。  …  Large eruptions
  take place at the same time over entire provinces; one succeeds the
  other almost without interruption; the fever encroaching on parts
  which were supposed to be cured; and to such an extent that the
  virulent ulcers finally combine and form one over the whole surface
  of the social body。
  By the end of December; 1789; the chronic fermentation comes to a
  head in Brittany。  Imagination; as usual; has forged a plot; and; as
  the people say; if they make an attack it is in their own defense。
  …  A report spreads'61' that M。 de Goyon; near Lamballe; has
  assembled in his chateau a number of gentlemen and six hundred
  soldiers。  The mayor and National Guard of Lamballe immediately
  depart in force; they find everything tranquil there; and no company
  but two or three friends; and no other arms than a few fowling…
  pieces。  …  The impulse; however; is given; and; on the 15th of
  January; the great federation of Pontivy has excited the wildest
  enthusiasm。  The people drink; sing; and shout in honor of the new
  decrees before armed peasants who do not comprehend the French
  tongue; still less legal terms; and who; on their return home;
  arguing with each other in bas…breton; interpret the law in a
  peculiar way。  〃A decree of the Assembly; in their eyes; is a decree
  of arrest〃 and as the principal decrees of the Assembly are issued
  against the nobles; they are so many decrees of arrest against them。
  …  Some days after this; about the end of January; during the whole
  of February; and down to the month of April; the execution of this
  theory is tumultuously carried out by mobs of villagers and
  vagabonds around Nantes; Auray; Redon; Dinan; Plo?rmel; Rennes;
  Guingamp; and other villages。  Everywhere; writes the Mayor of
  Nantes;'62' 〃the country…people believe that in burning deeds and
  contracts they get rid of their debts; the very best of them concur
  in this belief;〃 or let things take their course; the excesses are
  enormous; because many gratify 〃special animosities; and all are
  heated with wine。  …  At Beuvres; 〃the peasants and vassals of the
  manor; after burning title…deeds; establish themselves in the
  chateau; and threaten to fire it if other papers; which they allege
  are concealed there; are not surrendered。〃 Near Redon the Abbey of
  Saint…Sauveur is reduced to ashes。  Redon is menaced; and Plo?rmel
  almost besieged。  At the end of a month thirty…seven chateaux are
  enumerated as attacked: twenty…five in which the title…deeds are
  burnt; and twelve in which the proprietors are obliged to sign an
  abandonment of their rights。  Two chateaux which began to burn are
  saved by the National Guard。  That of Bois…au…Voyer is entirely
  consumed; and several have been sacked。  By way of addition; 〃more
  than fifteen procureurs…fiscaux; clerks; notaries; and officers of
  seignorial courts have been plundered or burnt;〃 while proprietors
  take refuge in the towns because the country is now uninhabitable
  for them。
  A second tumor makes its appearance at the same time at another
  point。'63'  It showed itself in Lower Limousin in the beginning of
  January。  From thence the purulent inflammation spreads to Quercy;
  Upper Languedoc; Perigord; and Rouergue; and in February from Tulle
  to Montauban; and from Agen to Périgueux and Cahors; extending over
  three departments。  …  Then; also; expectancy is the creator;
  according to rule; of its own object。  By dint of longing for a law
  for the suppression of all claims; it is imagined that it is passed;
  and the statement is current that 〃the King and the National
  Assembly have ordered deputations to set up the maypole'64' and to
  'light up' the chateaux。〃  …  Moreover; and always in accordance
  with current practice; bandits; people without occupation; take the
  lead of the furious crowd and manage things their own way。  As soon
  as a band is formed it arrests all the peaceable people it can find
  on the roads; in the fields; and in isolated farmhouses; and takes
  good care to put them in front in case of blows。  …  These
  miscreants add terror to compulsion。  They erect gibbets for any one
  that pays casual duti