第31章

Near that place， at la Rochette， herds of deer and of stags devour everything in the fields during the day， and， at night， they even invade the small gardens of the inhabitants to consume vegetables and to break down young trees. It is found impossible in a territory subjected to a captaincy to retain vegetables safe in gardens， enclosed by high walls. At Farcy， of five hundred peach trees planted in a vineyard and browsed on by stags， only twenty remain at the end of three years. Over the whole territory of Fontainebleau， the communities， to save their vines， are obliged to maintain， with the assent always of the captaincy， a gang of watchmen who， with licensed dogs， keep watch and make a hubbub all night from the first of May to the middle of October. At Chartrettes the deer cross the Seine， approach the doors of the Comtesse de Larochefoucauld and destroy entire plantations of poplars. A domain rented for two thousand livres brings in only four hundred after the establishment of the captaincy of Versailles. In short， eleven regiments of an enemy's cavalry， quartered on the eleven captaincies near the capital， and starting out daily to forage， could not do more mischief. - We need not be surprised if， in the neighborhood of these lairs， the people become weary of cultivating.[54] Near Fontainebleau and Melun， at Bois-le-Roi， three-quarters of the ground remains waste. Almost all the houses in Brolle are in ruins， only half-crumbling gables being visible； at Coutilles and at Chapelle-Rablay， five farms are abandoned； at Arbonne， numerous fields are neglected. At Villiers， and at Dame-Marie， where there were four farming companies and a number of special cultures， eight hundred arpents remain untilled. - Strange to say， as the century becomes more easygoing the enforcement of the chase becomes increasingly harsh. The officers of the captaincy are zealous because they labor under the eye and for the "pleasures" of their master. In 1789， eight hundred preserves had just been planted in one single canton of the captaincy of Fontainebleau， and in spite of the proprietors of the soil. According to the regulations of 1762 every private individual domiciled on the reservation of a captaincy is forbidden from enclosing his homestead or any ground whatever with hedges or ditches， or walls without a special permit.[55] In case of a permit being given he must leave a wide， open and continuous space in order to let the huntsmen easily pass through. He is not allowed to keep any ferret， any fire-arm， any instrument adapted to the chase， nor to be followed by any dog even if not adapted to it， except the dog be held by a leash or clog fastened around its neck. And better still. He is forbidden to reap his meadow or his Lucerne before St.

John's day， to enter his own field between the first of May and the twenty-fourth of June， to visit any island in the Seine， to cut grass on it or osiers， even if the grass and osiers belong to him. The reason is， that now the partridge is hatching and the legislator protects it； he would take less pains for a woman in confinement； the old chroniclers would say of him， as with William Rufus， that his bowels are paternal only for animals. Now， in France， four hundred square leagues of territory are subject to the control of the captaincies，[56] and， over all France， game， large or small， is the tyrant of the peasant. We may conclude， or rather listen to the people's conclusion. "Every time，" says M. Montlosier， in 1789，[57]

"that I chanced to encounter herds of deer or does on my road my guides immediately shouted： 'Make room for the gentry！' in this way alluding to the ravages committed by them on their land." Accordingly， in the eyes of their subjects， they are wild animals. - This shows to what privileges can lead when divorced from duties. In this manner an obligation to protect degenerates into a right of devastation. Thus do humane and rational beings act， unconsciously， like irrational and inhuman beings. Divorced from the people they misuse them； nominal chiefs， they have unlearned the function of an effective chief； having lost all public character they abate nothing of their private advantages. So much the worse for the canton， and so much worse for themselves. The thirty or forty poachers whom they prosecute to day on their estates will march to-morrow to attack their chateaux at the head of an insurrection. The absence of the masters， the apathy of the provinces， the bad state of cultivation， the exactions of agents， the corruption of the tribunals， the vexations of the captaincies， indolence， the indebtedness and exigencies of the seignior， desertion， misery， the brutality and hostility of vassals， all proceeds from the same cause and terminates in the same effect.

When sovereignty becomes transformed into a sinecure it becomes burdensome without being useful， and on becoming burdensome without being useful it is overthrown.

______________________________________________________________________Notes：

[1]. Beugnot， "Mémoires，" V. I. p.292. - De Tocqueville， "L'Ancien Régime et la Révolution."[2]. Arthur Young， "Travels in France，" II. 456. In France， he says， it is from the eleventh to the thirty-second. "But nothing is known like the enormities committed in England where the tenth is really taken."[3]. Saint-Simon， "Mémoires，" ed. Chéruel， vol. I. - Lucas de Montigny， "Mémoires de Mirabeau，" I. 53-182. - Marshal Marmont， "Mémoires，" I. 9， 11. - Chateaubriand， "Mémoires，" I. 17. De Montlosier， "Mémoires，" 2 vol. passim. - Mme. de Larochejacquelein， "Souvenirs，" passim. Many details concerning the types of the old nobility will be found in these passages. They are truly and forcibly depicted in two novels by Balzac in "Beatrix，" (the Baron de Guénic)and in the "Cabinet des Antiques，" (the Marquis d' Esgrignon).

[4]. A letter of the bailiff of Mirabeau， 1760， published by M. de Loménie in the "Correspondant，" V. 49， p.132.