ing, "Thou must
perish that there may be no more of thy race." For four hours the clerks
are on the point of being torn to pieces; through the entreaties of the
lord of the manor, who sees scythes and sabers aimed at his own
head, they are released only on the condition that they "abjure
their employment."--Again, for two months following the taking of
the Bastille, insurrections break out by hundreds, like a volley
of musketry, against indirect taxation. From the 23rd of July the
Intendant of Champagne reports that "the uprising is general in almost
all the towns under his command." On the following day the Intendant of
Alencon writes that, in his province, "the royal dues will no longer be
paid anywhere." On the 7th of August, M. Necker states to the National
Assembly that in the two intendants' districts of Caen and Alencon it
has been necessary to reduce the price of salt one-half; that "in
an infinity of places" the collection of the excise is stopped or
suspended; that the smuggling of salt and tobacco is done by "convoys
and by open force" in Picardy, in Lorraine, and in the Trois-Eveches;
that the indirect tax does not come in, that the receivers-general and
the receivers of the taille are "at bay" and can no longer keep their
engagements. The public income diminishes from month to month; in the
social body, the heart, already so feeble, faints; deprived of the
blood which no longer reaches it, it ceases to propel to the muscles the
vivifying current which restores their waste and adds to their energy.

"All controlling power is slackened," says Necker, "everything is a prey
to the passions of individuals." Where is the power to constrain them
and to secure to the State its dues?--The clergy, the nobles, wealthy
townsmen, and certain brave artisans and farmers, undoubtedly pay, and
even sometimes give spontaneously. But in society those who possess
intelligence, who are in easy circumstances and conscientious, form a
small select class; the great mass is egotistic, ignorant, and needy,
and lets its money go only under constraint; there is but one way to
collect the taxes, and that is to extort them. From time immemorial,
direct taxes in France have been collected only by bailiffs and
seizures; which is not surprising, as they take away a full half of the
net income. Now that the peasants of each village are armed and form
a band, let the collector come and make seizures if he dare!--"
Immediately after the decre