is which
makes them proclaim all the louder that they are freethinkers. But they
are freethinkers in words only; firm friends of the authorities, they
are ready to rush into the arms of the first deliverer at the slightest
indication of popular discontent.

The group which toils and vegetates in the old quarter is not so clearly
defined as the others. The labouring classes are here in a majority; but
retail dealers and even a few wholesale traders are to be found among
them. As a matter of fact, Plassans is far from being a commercial
centre; there is only just sufficient trade to dispose of the products
of the country--oil, wine, and almonds. As for industrial labour, it is
represented almost entirely by three or four evil-smelling tanyards,
a felt hat manufactory, and some soap-boiling works, which last are
relegated to a corner of the Faubourg. This little commercial and
industrial world, though it may on high days and holidays visit the
people of the new district, generally takes up its quarters among the
operatives of the old town. Merchants, retail traders, and artisans have
common interests which unite them together. On Sundays only, the masters
make themselves spruce and foregather apart. On the other hand, the
labouring classes, which constitute scarcely a fifth of the population,
mingle with the idlers of the district.

It is only once a week, and during the fine weather, that the three
districts of Plassans come together face to face. The whole town repairs
to the Cours Sauvaire on Sunday after vespers; even the nobility venture
thither. Three distinct currents flow along this sort of boulevard
planted with rows of plane-trees. The well-to-do citizens of the new
quarter merely pass along before quitting the town by the Grand'-Porte
and taking the Avenue du Mail on the right, where they walk up and down
till nightfall. Meantime, the nobility and the lower classes share the
Cours Sauvaire between them. For more than a century past the nobility
have selected the walk on the south side, which is bordered with large
mansions, and is the first to escape the heat of the sun; the lower
classes have to rest content with the walk on the north, where the
cafes, inns, and tobacconists' shops are located. The people and the
nobility promenade the whole afternoon, walking up and down the Cours
without anyone of either party thinking of changing sides. They are only
separated by a distance of some seven or eight yards, yet