[42] Buchez et Roux， (Report of Saint-Just， October 10， 1793.) "That would be the only good they could do their country. . . . It would be no more than just for the people to reign over its oppressors in its turn， and that their pride should be bathed in the sweat of their brows."[43] Ibid.， XXXI.， 309. (Report of Saint-Just， Vent？se 8， year II.)[44] Ibid.， XXVI. 435. (Speech by Robespierre on the constitution， May 10， 1793.) "What were our usages and pretended laws other than a code of impertinence and baseness， where contempt of men was subject to a sort of tariff， and graduated according to regulations as odd as they were numerous？ To despise and be despised， to cringe in order to rule， slaves and tyrants in turn， now kneeling before a master， now trampling the people under foot - such was the ambition of all of us， so long as we were men of birth or well educated men， whether common folks or fashionable folks， lawyers or financiers， pettifoggers or wearing swords." - Archives Nationales， F7， 31167. (Report of the observatory Chaumont， Niv？se 10， year II.) - "Boolean's effigy， placed in the college of Lisle， has been lowered to the statues of the saints， the latter being taken out of their niches. There is now no kind of distinction. Saints and authors are of the same class."[45] Buchez et Roux.， 296. ("Institutions" by Saint-Just.) - Meillan， "Mémoires，" p. 17. - Anne Plumptre， "A narrative of three years'
residence in France， from 1802 to 1805，" II.， 96. At Marseilles： "The two great crimes charged on those who doomed to destruction， were here as elsewhere， wealth and aristocracy. . . It had been decreed by the Terrorists that no person could have occasion for more than two hundred livres a year， and that no income should be permitted to exceed that sum."[46] Archives Nationales， F7， 4437. (Address of the people's club of Caisson (Gard)， Messidor 7， year II.) "The Bourgeoisie， the merchants， the large land-owners have all the pretension of the ex-nobles. The law provides no means for opening the eyes of the common people in relation to these new tyrants. The club desires that the revolutionary tribunal should be empowered to condemn this proud class of individuals to a prompt partial confinement. The people would then see that they had committed a misdemeanor and would withdraw that sort of respect in which they hold them." A note in the hand-writing of Couthon： "Left to the decision of popular commissions."[47] Gouvernor Morris， in a letter of January 4， 1796， says that French capitalists have been financially ruined by assignats， and physically by the guillotine. - Buchez et Roux， XXX.， 26. (Notes written by Robespierre in June， 1793.) "Internal dangers come from the bourgeois. . . who are our enemies？ The vicious and the rich."[48] Narrative by M. Sylvester de Sacy (May 23， 1873)： His father owned a farm bringing in four thousand francs per annum； the farmer offered him four thousand francs in assignats or a hog； M. de Sacy took the hog.
[49] Buchez et Roux， XXXI.， 441. (Report by Cambon on the institution of the grand livre of public debt， August 15， 1793.)[50] Ibid.， XXXI.， 311. Report by Saint-Just， February 26， 1794， and decree in accordance therewith， unanimously adopted. See， in particular， article 2. - Moniteur， 12 Vent？se， year II. (meeting of the Jacobin club， speech by Collot d'Herbois). "The Convention has declared that prisoners must prove that they were patriots from the 1st of May 1789. When the patriots and enemies of the Revolution shall be fully known， then the property of the former shall be inviolable and held sacred， while that of the latter will be confiscated for the benefit of the republic."[51] Buchez et Roux， XXVI.， 455 (Session of the Jacobin Club， May 10， 1793， speech by Robespierre.) - Ibid.， (Report by Saint-Just， Feb.
26， 1794.) "He who has shown himself an enemy of his country cannot be one of its proprietors. Only he has patrimonial rights who has helped to free it."[52] Buchez et Roux， XXXI.， 93 and 130. (Speech by Robespierre on property， and the declaration of rights adopted by the Jacobin club.)Decree of Sept. 3， 1793 (articles 13 and 14).
[53] Moniteur， XXII.， 719. (Report by Cambon， Frimaire 6， year III.)At Bordeaux Raba has been sentenced to pay a fine of 1，200，000 francs， Pechotte to pay 500，000 francs， Martin-Martin to 300，000 francs." -Cf. Rodolphe Reuss， "Séligmann Alexandre ou les Tribulations d'un israélite de Strasbourg."[54] Ibid.， XVIII.， 486. (Report by Cambon， Frimaire 1， year II.)"The egotists who， some time ago， found it difficult to pay for the national domains they had acquired from the Republic， even in assignats， now bring us their gold . . . Collectors of the revenue who had buried their gold have come and offered to pay what they owe the nation in ingots of gold and silver. These have been refused， the Assembly having decreed the confiscation of these objects."[55] Decree of Brumaire 23， year II. On taxes and confiscations in the provinces see M. de Martel， "Etude sur Fouché et Pieces authentiques servant à l'histoire de la revolution à Strasbourg." And further on the details of this operation at Troyes. - Meillan， 90：
"At Bordeaux， merchants were heavily taxed， not on account of their incivism， but on account of their wealth."[56] Decree of March 7-11， 1793.
[57] Moniteur， XVIII.， 274， decrees of Brumaire 4， and ibid， 305， decree of Brumaire 9， year II.， establishing equal partition of inheritances with retroactive effect to July 14， 1789. Adulterous bastards are excepted. The reporter of the bill， Cambacèrés， laments this regrettable exception.
[58] Rights of inheritance allowed to the descendants of a deceased person who never enjoyed these rights， but who might have enjoyed them had he been living when they fell to him. - Tr.