de Tocqueville the number of holders of real property had
increased, on the average, to five-twelfths; the population, at the same
time, having increased five-thirteenths (from 26 to 36 millions).]

[Footnote 5150: "Compte-general des revenus et depenses fixes au 1er
Mai, 1789 (Imprimerie Royale, 1789).--De Luynes, XVI. 49.--Roux and
Buchez, I. 206, 374. (This relates only to the countries of election; in
the provinces, with assemblies, the increase is no less great). Archives
nationales, H2, 1610 (the parish of Bourget, in Anjou). Extracts from
the taille rolls of three metayer--farms belonging to M. de Ruille. The
taxes in 1762 are 334 livres, 3 sous; in 1783, 372 livres, 15 sous.]

CHAPTER II. TAXATION THE PRINCIPAL CAUSE OF MISERY.

I. Extortion.

Direct taxes.--State of different domains at the end of the
reign of Louis XV.--Levies of the tithe and the owner.--What
remains to the proprietor.

Let us closely examine the extortions he has to endure, which are very
great, much beyond any that we can imagine. Economists had long prepared
the budget of a farm and shown by statistics the excess of charges with
which the cultivator is overwhelmed. If he continues to cultivate, they
say, he must have his share in the crops, an inviolable portion, equal
to one-half of the entire production, and from which nothing can
be deducted without ruining him. This portion, in short, accurately
represents, and not a sou too much, in the first place, the interest
of the capital first expended on the farm in cattle, furniture, and
implements of husbandry; in the second place, the maintenance of this
capital, every year depreciated by wear and tear; in the third place,
the advances made during the current year for seed, wages, and food for
men and animals; and, in the last place, the compensation due him for
the risks he takes and his losses. Here is a first lien which must be
satisfied beforehand, taking precedence of all others, superior to that
of the seignior, to that of the tithe-owner (decimateur), to even that
of the king, for it is an indebtedness due to the soil.[5201] After this
is paid back, then, and only then, that which remains, the net product,
can be touched. Now, in the then state of agriculture, the tithe-owner
and the king appropriate one-half of this net product, when the estate
is large, and the whole, if the estate is a small one[5202]. A certain
large farm in Picardy, worth to its