he
stately Chateau de Molerepaire, of which nothing now remains but a
farmhouse; there, the ancient parish church of St. Paul at
Mons-en-Laonnois, one of the finest in the district, now utterly gone,
all its materials having been sold for the profit of certain 'national
agents' in 1794. Wissignicourt possessed in 1789 one of the most
beautiful churches in Northern France and two considerable chateaux. The
church of St.-Remi was first robbed of all its ornaments, and finally,
in 1793, completely demolished.

The Chateau de la Cressonniere, built in the sixteenth century by Claude
de Massary, and inhabited by his descendants as resident landlords until
the Revolution, has entirely disappeared. Of the Chateau de
Wissignicourt, founded in the twelfth century by a baron of the great
Picard family of De Hangest, some portions still exist. But this little
commune, which occupies one of the most naturally charming sites in the
Laonnois, between Anizy and Laon, is indebted to the 'patriots' of
Chauny, who domineered over it during the Revolution, for the
annihilation of local features, which in these days of railway travel
and picturesque tourists would have materially enhanced the value of its
not very fertile territory. These buildings, these chateaux and
churches, were part of the accumulated capital of France, and certainly
not the least important part of the accumulated capital of the commune
of Wissignicourt. If they had been destroyed in the heat of conflict, as
so many such buildings were destroyed in this country during the wars of
religion, and in Germany, and even in Great Britain, the philosophers
might have some plausible pretext at least for citing their favourite
proverb that you 'cannot make an omelette without breaking some eggs.'
And we might be invited to set off, against this loss of accumulated
capital, certain important gains in the way of more liberal
institutions and an enfranchised industry. But this is not the case.
The vandalism of the Revolution of 1789 was perpetrated in cold blood. I
speak, of course, now of the real authors of it all, at Paris, not of
the mere mobs in the provinces, hot with the sordid lust of plunder or
with personal spites and rancours--and it was perpetrated for the profit
of those who promoted it. The bronzes and brasses and lead and hammered
iron of the desecrated churches were turned into money, and the money
went into the pockets of the 'patriots.' Monuments that would now b