第203章

Other recruits for rioting are found among smugglers and in dealers in contraband salt[23]. A tax， as soon as it becomes exorbitant， invites fraud， and raises up a population of delinquents against its army of clerks. The number of such defrauders may be seen when we consider the number of custom officers： twelve hundred leagues of interior custom districts are guarded by 50，000 men， of which 23，000 are soldiers in civilian dress[24]. "In the principal provinces of the salt-tax and in the provinces of the five great tax leasing administrations (fermes)， for four leagues (ten miles) on either side of the prohibited line，" cultivation is abandoned； everybody is either a customs official or a smuggler[25]. The more excessive the tax the higher the premium offered to the violators of the law； at every place on the boundaries of Brittany with Normandy， Maine and Anjou， four pence per pound added to the salt-tax multiplies beyond any conception the already enormous number of contraband dealers. "Numerous bands of men，[26] armed with frettes， or long sticks pointed with iron， and often with pistols or guns， attempt to force a passage. "A multitude of women and of children， quite young， cross the brigades boundaries or， on the other side， troops of dogs are brought there， kept closed up for a certain time without food or drink， then loaded with salt and now turned loose so that they， driven by hunger， immediately bring their cargo back to their masters."-Vagabonds， outlaws， the famished， sniff this lucrative occupation from afar and run to it like so many packs of hounds. "The outskirts of Brittany are filled with a population of emigrants， mostly outcast from their own districts， who， after a year's registered stay， may enjoy the privileges of the Bretons： their occupation is limited to collecting piles of salt to re-sell to the contraband dealers." We might imagine them， as in a flash of lightening， as a long line of restless nomads， nocturnal and pursued， an entire tribe， male and female， of unsociable prowlers， familiar with to underhand tricks， toughened by hard weather， ragged， "nearly all infected by persistent scabies，" and I find similar bodies in the vicinity of Morlaix， Lorient， and other ports on the frontiers of other provinces and on the frontiers of the kingdom. From 1783 to 1787， in Quercy， two allied bands of smugglers， sixty and eighty each， defraud the revenue of 40，000 of tobacco， kill two customs officers， and， with their guns， defend their stores in the mountains； to suppress them soldiers are needed， which their military commander will not furnish. In 1789，[27] a large troop of smugglers carry on operations permanently on the frontiers of Maine and Anjou； the military commander writes that "their chief is an intelligent and formidable bandit， who already has under him fifty-five men， he will， due to misery and rebellion soon have a corps；" it would， as we are unable to take him by force， be best， if some of his men could be turned and made to hand him over to us. These are the means resorted to in regions where brigandage is endemic. - Here， indeed， as in Calabria， the people are on the side of the brigands against the gendarmes. The exploits of Mandrin in 1754，[28] may be remembered： his company of sixty men who bring in contraband goods and ransom only the clerks， his expedition， lasting nearly a year， across Franche-Comté， Lyonnais， Bourbonnais， Auvergne and Burgundy， the twenty-seven towns he enters making no resistance， delivering prisoners and making sale of his merchandise. To overcome him a camp had to be formed at Valance and 2，000 men sent against him； he was taken through treachery， and still at the present day certain families are proud of their relationship to him， declaring him a liberator. - No symptom is more alarming： on the enemies of the law being preferred by the people to its defenders， society disintegrates and the worms begin to work. -Add to these the veritable brigands， assassins and robbers. "In 1782，[29] the provost's court of Montargis is engaged on the trial of Hulin and two hundred of his accomplices who， for ten years， by means of joint enterprises， have desolated a portion of the kingdom." -Mercier enumerates in France "an army of more than 10，000 brigands and vagabonds" against which the police， composed of 3，756 men， is always on the march. "Complaints are daily made，" says the provincial assembly of Haute-Guyenne， "that there is no police in the country."The absentee seignior pays no attention to this matter； his judges and officials take good care not to operate gratuitously against an insolvent criminal， the result is that "his estates become the refuge of all the rascals of the area."[30] - Every abuse thus carries with it a risk， both due to misplaced carelessness as well as excessive rigor， to relaxed feudalism as well as to harsh monarchy. All the institutions appear to work together to breed and or tolerate the troublemakers， preparing， outside the social defenses， the men of action who will carry it by storm.