confiscated goods preserve their
original taint. Rarely is the purchaser regarded favorably in his
commune; the bargain he has made excites envy; he is not alone in his
enjoyment of it, but the rest suffer from it. Formerly, this or that
field of which he reaps the produce, this or that domain of which he
enjoys the rental, once provided for the parsonage, the asylum and
the school; now the school, the asylum and the parsonage die through
inanition for his advantage; he fattens on their fasting. In his own
house, his wife and mother often look melancholy, especially during
Easter week; if he is old, or becomes ill, his conscience disturbs him;
this conscience, through habit and heredity, is Catholic: he craves
absolution at the last moment at the priest's hands, and says to himself
that, at the last moment, he may not probably be absolved.[3191] In
other respects, he would find it difficult to satisfy himself that
his legal property is legitimate property; for, not only is it not so
rightfully before the tribunal of conscience, but again it is not so
in fact on the market; the figures, in this particular, are convincing,
daily and notorious. A patrimonial domain which brings in 3000 francs
finds a purchaser at 100,000 francs; alongside of this a national domain
which brings in just as much, finds a purchaser only at 60,000 francs;
after several sales and resale, the depreciation continues and 40 % of
the value of the confiscated property is lost.[3192] A low, indistinct
murmur is heard, and reverberates from sale to sale, the muttering of
private probity protesting against public probity, declaring to the
new proprietor that his title is defective; it lacks one clause and a
capital one, that of the surrender and cession, the formal renunciation,
the authentic withdrawal of the former owner. The State, the first
seller, owes this voucher to the purchasers; let it procure this and
negotiate accordingly; let it apply for this to the rightful party, to
the owners whom it has dispossessed, to the immemorial and legitimate
authorities, I mean to the ancient corporations. These have been
dissolved by revolutionary law and have no longer a representative who
can sign for them. Nevertheless, in spite of revolutionary law, one of
these corporations, with more vitality than the rest, still subsists
with its proper, if not legal, representative, its regular and
undisputed chief. This chief is qualified and authorized to bind the
bod