第178章

"In the country around me， ten leagues from Paris， I find increased privation and constant complaints. What must it be in our wretched provinces in the interior of the kingdom？ . . . My curate tells me that eight families， supporting themselves on their labor when I left， are now begging their bread. There is no work to be had. The wealthy are economizing like the poor. And with all this the taille is exacted with military severity. The collectors， with their officers， accompanied by locksmiths， force open the doors and carry off and sell furniture for one-quarter of its value， the expenses exceeding the amount of the tax . . . " - "I am at this moment on my estates in Touraine. I encounter nothing but frightful privations； the melancholy sentiment of suffering no longer prevails with the poor inhabitants， but rather one of utter despair； they desire death only， and avoid increase. . . . It is estimated that one-quarter of the working-days of the year go to the corvées， the laborers feeding themselves， and with what？ . . . I see poor people dying of destitution. They are paid fifteen sous a day， equal to a crown， for their load. Whole villages are either ruined or broken up， and none of the households recover. .

. . Judging by what my neighbors tell me the inhabitants have diminished one-third. . . . The daily laborers are all leaving and taking refuge in the small towns. In many villages everybody leaves. Ihave several parishes in which the taille for three years is due， the proceedings for its collection always going on. . . . The receivers of the taille and of the taxes add one-half each year in expenses above the tax. . . . An assessor， on coming to the village where I have my country-house， states that the taille this year will be much increased； he noticed that the peasants here were fatter than elsewhere； that they had chicken feathers before their doors， and that the living here must be good， everybody doing well， etc. - This is the cause of the peasant's discouragement， and likewise the cause of misfortune throughout the kingdom." - "In the country where I am staying I hear that marriage is declining and that the population is decreasing on all sides. In my parish， with a few fire-sides， there are more than thirty single persons， male and female， old enough to marry and none of them considering it. On being urged to marry they all reply alike that it is not worth while to bring unfortunate beings like themselves into the world. I have myself tried to induce some of the women to marry by offering them assistance， but they all reason in this way as if they had consulted together."[9] - "One of my curates sends me word that， although he is the oldest in the province of Touraine， and has seen many things， including excessively high prices for wheat， he remembers no misery so great as that of this year， even in 1709. . . . Some of the seigniors of Touraine inform me that， being desirous of setting the inhabitants to work by the day， they found very few of them， and these so weak that they were unable to use their hands."Those who are able to leave， go.