Part 17

Civil society has no charm for him, and nothing has been known to attract his attention. Every effort has been made to impress him with some kind of sentiment. A good deal has been published respecting this “child of nature,” as he has been foolishly nicknamed by the Parisian wits; and the wretched condition of his mind has furnished several philosophists with arguments in which they have attempted to reason away the understanding and virtue of mankind. But this is a ridiculous mode of reasoning, and what Dr. Paley[1] has said in his _Elements of Moral Philosophy_, respecting Peter the Wild Boy of Germany, may be applied with equal force to the Wild Boy of France.

[Sidenote: RENTE VIAGÈRE]

The conversations into which I have been led in consequence of my visit to this young savage have been very interesting, chiefly because they were carried on with avowed atheists, members of the National Institute. It is really astonishing to what extremities they push their subtle sophisms; and while they affect to discard everything that is not _material_ and appurtenant to this globe, they are continually soaring _extra flammentia mœnia mundi_.

In a solemn discussion I had the other day with a man who is considered one of the first natural philosophers in the world, he told me gravely that Lagrange, Lacroix and several members of the Institute had sent a German to the interior of Africa to request he would make the experiment of uniting an ourang outang to a negro woman, and that he looked forward with eager expectation to the result of these nuptials!

Such a project is worthy of the philosophers of the National Institute.

XXXVI

ECONOMICAL ESTABLISHMENTS. PROGRESSIVE ANNUITY FUND. SOCIETY FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF NATIONAL INDUSTRY

A plan is in preparation for the establishment of an annuity fund. It is to be named _Caisse des Placemens en Viager_. It is to be established at 440 Rue Saint Méry and 435 Rue du Renard Saint Méry. Its motto is _surety, stability, simplicity_. Those who hold shares are to enjoy a progressive annuity. This annuity is paid according to their ages, and not to their shares; hence all the holders of shares who have attained any particular age receive the same rate of interest whatever may have been the price of their shares. The _minimum_ of rate for the first age is six livres per share, and is assigned to the first class only; the primitive rate of the subsequent classes rises gradually to the twelfth, which comprehends the holders of shares who have attained their sixtieth year. By reckoning from the rate assigned to the first class, the annuity increases at fixed epochs, and rises by thirty-five gradations to the maximum of 5000 livres, which belongs to all the classes, and is paid to all holders of shares who have attained the age to which this last term of the progression relates. All the intermediate terms determine equally what is to be paid, without any distinction to the holders of shares in each class, in proportion as they arrive at the different ages which correspond to each rate of annuity. Those holders are divided into twelve classes, and each class into twelve series, each of which has a separate and distinct account.

At first view this plan seems to resemble a Tontine, but it is a very different thing. A Tontine divides annually amongst the survivors the shares of those deceased, but in this fund the probabilities of human life have been calculated, and by making them agree with the decrease of the capital invested, which together with their interest serve to augment the annuities, the movement of the funds and the death of the holder of shares are so combined that every holder knows at any given point the benefits he will derive at the different periods of his life.

The principle of the establishment consists “in an equality of annuities, payable to the same ages, whatever may have been the time of investment of the share, combined with an equality in the number of survivors among such holders of shares as have attained the same age, whatever may have been the time of becoming such.”

The holders have been distributed into twelve classes, the first of which has been fixed at 3200. It comprises only such individuals as are under a year old, and serves as a regulation of the decreasing numbers of each subsequent class. Thus the numbers decreasing of the shares in each class are as follows:

First 3200 Second 2400 Third 2242 Fourth 2102 Fifth 1940 Sixth 1792 Seventh 1648 Eighth 1438 Ninth 1200 Tenth 1020 Eleventh 838 Twelfth 656

[Sidenote: RENTE VIAGÈRE]

In order to make the annuities equal for all ages it has been necessary only to reproduce in each class, at the age wherein each of the subsequent classes are introduced, an operation which consists simply in dividing this capital, the same for all the classes which have attained the same ages, by the number of shares in the class in question, which number is the same as that to which all former classes are reduced.

The twelve classes comprise from one year to sixty-five years; each class contains different periods of five, six, or seven years; all the individuals comprehended under these periods are considered as being of the same age, and paid as such until the extinction of the amount to which they belong. The total number of shares cannot exceed 245,712, and the prices of shares in the respective classes are thus regulated:

PRICES OF SHARES.

Livres. Centimes.

1. Those who have not completed their first year 140 0 2. Those who have not completed their eighth year 199 75 3. From 8 to 13 years of age 223 26 4. „ 13 to 18 „ „ 242 39 5. „ 18 „ 24 „ „ 260 91 6. „ 24 „ 30 „ „ 279 98 7. „ 30 „ 36 „ „ 301 52 8. „ 36 „ 43 „ „ 335 65 9. „ 43 „ 50 „ „ 383 28 10. „ 50 „ 55 „ „ 427 27 11. „ 55 „ 60 „ „ 479 84 12. „ 60 „ 65 „ „ 552 84

These shareholders receive a progressive annuity per share as follows:

ANNUITY.

Livres. Centimes.

1. Until 8 years of age 6 0 2. From 8 to 13 years of age 8 0 3. „ 13 to 18 „ „ 10 0 4. „ 18 „ 24 „ „ 12 0 5. „ 24 „ 30 „ „ 13 0 6. „ 30 „ 36 „ „ 14 0 7. „ 36 „ 43 „ „ 16 0 8. „ 43 „ 50 „ „ 19 0 9. „ 50 „ 55 „ „ 23 0 10. „ 55 „ 60 „ „ 28 0 11. „ 60 till death 34 0

There is no limit to the number of shares a person may hold. Each class is to be closed as soon as the fixed number of shares shall have been completed.

As soon as a series of each class is closed, a new one will be opened, to be closed in its turn when the number of its shares shall be completed.

When 144 series of a class are closed, no further investments will be admitted. Besides the above annuity, the four last survivors of a class and of each series will divide between them the four-fifths of the residue of their account in proportion to the number of shares belonging to them, the remaining fifth belonging to the administration. The object of this institution, like the one I have described at Chaillot, is to make a comfortable provision for old age, by giving encouragement to a habit of economy. It is open to foreigners as well as to Frenchmen.

_The Society for the Encouragement of National Industry_ is held at the Louvre and is open to all the world. Any person may be admitted a member on being presented by a member, received by the Council of Administration, and on paying annually _at least_ a sum of thirty-six livres. The object of this society is to offer prizes for the invention, improvement and execution of machines or processes, advantageous to agriculture, arts and manufactures, to diffuse information respecting agriculture, arts and manufactures and to make experiments in order to ascertain the utility of new inventions and to afford pecuniary assistance to artists whose personal poverty prevents them being able to try the effects of their inventions.

The administration of this society is composed of men of first-rate ability, and is divided into five distinct committees: The Committee of Mechanical Arts, the Committee of Commerce, the Committee of Agriculture and those of Economical and Chemical Arts.

XXXVII

THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE SEINE. GENERAL VIEW OF THE STATE OF AGRICULTURE IN FRANCE

[Sidenote: AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY]

Of all the institutions in Paris, the Agricultural Society afforded me most satisfaction. It is unexceptionable and praiseworthy in a high degree, and partakes of the innocence and simplicity of rural economy. The formation of such an establishment in such a city as Paris is an anomaly in politics, and, extraordinary to say, the members are nearly all men of good character, fortune and talents.

This Society supplies the place of the old Royal Society of Agriculture. Its members are limited to sixty resident in the Department of the Seine, and not more than 150 Associates, one of whom at least is chosen from each Department. It also elects foreign Associates. The Society assembles for the present at the Préfecture de la Seine in the Place Vendôme. I was present at the last meeting, and sixteen members were there, including my excellent friend Grégoire; also François de Neufchâteau, Huzard, Parmentier, Silvestre, the Secretary and others. It was with extreme pleasure I perceived the zeal manifested by all the members of the Society for the promotion of the great and important science of agriculture. In old France the business of the husbandman was considered the lowest and most grovelling form of vassalage. The order of nature and of sound policy was thus reversed.

But agriculture in France may now be said to be progressive, and if it be allowed time and be spared from vexation it will truly enrich the Republic. When we take into consideration the immense extent of France, the variety of its climate and the fertility of its soil, together with the vast resources it contains, one cannot avoid looking with affection on an establishment so well adapted to collect into one focus the experiments, details and improvements, native and foreign, by which these natural advantages may be rendered more politically beneficial to the country.

The condition of the labouring classes of France has so far not been in the least bettered by the Revolution; they are yet in the same abject state for which they were heretofore distinguished. That mutual hatred which existed between the inhabitants of the population of town and country still prevails; notwithstanding that liberty and equality have been written in characters of blood all over France. The Agricultural Society are endeavouring to connect together the labourer and the artisan, by pointing out their reciprocal obligations to each other, and by giving rewards to such persons as shall point out the most effective methods of rendering their common exertions serviceable to the State. A variety of publications, some ingenious and lively, others grave and argumentative, have been circulated to show the immense importance of rural economy to a State, and to exalt the character of the agriculturist.

The members of the Agricultural Society are well aware of the many difficulties which they have to encounter, and the obstinate prejudices they must remove, before they can hope to bring the rural economy of France to that point of perfection of which it is susceptible. A great obstacle in the way of agricultural improvement in France is the astonishing multitude and diversity of local customs, which even the violence of the Revolution has failed to alter much less eradicate.

[Sidenote: AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY]

Upon the whole, notwithstanding the present unfavourable appearance of the general state of husbandry in the Republic, I entertain little doubt that a peace of ten years will wonderfully alter the face of things. The means of giving efficacy to the zeal and ardour of the French I am sensible are wanting, nevertheless so long as zeal prevails a well-founded hope exists that in defiance of the poverty and extravagance of the Government, much will be done by the people themselves. Unfortunately a general sentiment is at this time predominant in France that nothing can be done or undertaken without the Government. It is true the Government listens with attention to every scheme, but their interest appears to go no further. The only way to prevent all things from going to decay is by continually aiming to better them in some respect or other, and to afford an attentive ear to every project for that purpose. It must frequently happen that many of those projects will be chimerical, but men who expose themselves and desert the common and certain roads of gain in pursuit of advantages for the public and not for themselves, must necessarily have something odd and singular in their characters. It is the character of pride and laziness to reject all offers, as it is that of weakness and credulity to listen to all without distinction. Cromwell, partly from his circumstances, but more from his genius and disposition, received daily a number of proposals which were often most useful, and often remote from probability and good sense. But he made a signal use of many things of this kind.

Colbert spent much of his time in hearing every sort of scheme for the extending of commerce, the improvement of agriculture and the arts; and spared no pains or expense to put them in execution, and bountifully rewarded and encouraged their authors. By these means France advanced during the reign of Louis XIV. and under this Minister more than it had done for a couple of centuries, and by these means also in the midst of wars, which brought France and the rest of Europe almost to destruction, amidst all the faults in the royal character and many errors of his Government, a seed of industry and enterprise was sown, which on the first respite of the public calamities, and even while they oppressed the nation, rose to produce that flourishing internal and external wealth and power for which France was afterwards distinguished.

XXXVIII

THE POST OFFICE. HALLS OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODIES. COURTS OF JUSTICE. THE JUDGMENT OF SOLOMON REVIVED

Any person who has paid a visit to our General Post Office in Lombard Street, and is acquainted with the extraordinary bustle united to the utmost precision visible there, would think, should he happen to alight on a sudden in the Rue Coqueron without knowing in what part of the world he was, that the Post Office therein was that of some small trading town, instead of the capital of the _greatest_ nation on earth.

Should he judge of the population by the revenue of each place, he would conclude Great Britain contained some 100,000,000 souls and France not above 3,000,000.

It does not require much skill in political economy to discover the causes of this disparity.

Commercial nations have a greater number of artificial wants and a most extensive circle of correspondents. To them the expense of postage is no burthen, it is a source of profit. A merchant therefore exults in the number of his letters. Hence the duties of postage are never paid with reluctance. You would never see in the General Post Office of such countries, piles of returned letters sufficient to supply a bonfire. Amsterdam, at the period of its commercial prosperity, received more letters in one day than the citizens of Paris in a week. I will now compare the London and Paris Post Offices, and this comparison is really an entertaining one.

I wrote to the Mayor of Chatillon in La Vendée an important letter, requiring a reply. Consequently I was obliged to go frequently to the General Post Office in order to make inquiries for it.

[Sidenote: IRREGULAR POSTAL SYSTEM]

Upon the first time I presented myself at the office, I inquired whether the post had arrived? “No.” “When do you expect it?” “To-day.” “But you desired me to be here at one o’clock.” “Eh, monsieur! one cannot be _so_ precise.” “When shall I call again?” “To-morrow.” On the next day I returned. “Now, what say you?” “The post is not arrived.” “When will it come?” “To-night or perhaps to-morrow.” “How do you account for this irregularity?” “Who knows? the courier may have broken his neck, one cannot be particular.” “But the post from England is regular enough!” “C’est une autre affaire, les routes de Calais à Paris sont superbes.”

The next evening the post did arrive. I asked the reason for delay, and was coolly replied: “there was none.”

If I had been a merchant what fatal consequences might have ensued from this delay had I been under the necessity of making a considerable payment!

I will relate another circumstance, sufficiently ludicrous, though a general and useful deduction may be drawn from it. My valet de chambre, who fortunately for me cannot read, brought me one afternoon a letter which, after a hundred apologies for the liberty he was taking, he begged _I_ would read to him. It came from his father, who is a well-to-do farmer near Besançon. The style of the letter was good, but the writing difficult to decypher. After the usual expressions between a parent and a son, he proceeded in the letter to ask four distinct questions, every one of which required an explicit answer. One of them, upon which he laid the greatest stress, was to inform him by its reply whether his daughter had been safely delivered. The letter, however, had a postscript: “Au Nom de Dieu ne réponds pas à cette lettre, le prix des facteurs est trop cher!”

Now without any invidious allusion to Ireland I may be permitted to observe that no so-called Irish bull was ever so simple as this remark.

No English labourer whose daughter was in a similar condition would have grudged a few sous upon such occasion, and the expense of internal postage in France is cheaper than with us.

Disinclination to correspond extends to men in better circumstances. Amidst the most sumptuous festivities and the Oriental style of living peculiar to the Consular Satrap, there is throughout the mass of the Parisians a chilling penury that would excite compassion, if we could forget that they had been the voluntary authors of their own wretchedness.

The extensive operations carried on, the numerous armies maintained on the Continent by the Republic, have rendered it extremely difficult for persons to know the destination and circumstances of their relatives.

Hence a new species of egoism has been introduced into society. The social claim is dissolved and every one lives on conjecture or only for himself. The charms and joys of friendship cannot exist in such a state.

It must be observed that trade is at a standstill; not on account of want of opportunities but for want of _means_. Property has not yet made its appearance from out the holes where the spirits of fraud, rapine and fear have deposited it. Concealment of spoil is the universal adage; for with all the fulsome panegyrics on the Central Government, which originate with its subaltern agents, and are despatched by the Prefects of the Departments, doubt and anxiety are pictured on every countenance, except the military and the immediate counsellors of the consulate authority. If a merchant be disposed to make a venture, the next moment his fears deter him. He hesitates to trust, and least of all is he inclined to trust his Government. Under such circumstances it is little wonder the General Post Office does so little business.

I have stood for hours in the courtyard in order to see the arrivals of the different couriers.

[Sidenote: POSTAL TRANSIT]

Nothing can be more ridiculous than the contrast between the English and French mail coaches. The French post waggons are huge unwieldy machines, drawn by cart horses, harnessed with ropes and moving at a slow pace, their arrival is nevertheless always announced by tremendous cracks of whips.

When this is compared with the smart dress and cheerful horns of our coachmen and guards, the elegant neatness and convenience of our mail coaches, the beauty of our horses, and the expedition with which they are received and despatched to pursue their different routes almost to a minute, it is impossible not to feel a proud opinion of the “little nation of shopkeepers” as the _Master of the Earth_ is pleased to call the inhabitants of our islands. I shall conclude this account of the Post Office with observing first, from official documents on my table, that I could sail with a light wind to Jamaica before a letter in France would arrive at some of the cross posts in the Interior.

For instance, between Bourges and Sancerre, in the Department of Cher, there is at present no communication. Between Orleans and Montargis, in the Department du Loiret, there is no established mode of correspondence. But the Prefect hopes later to accomplish the matter by putting a tax on all the inhabitants.

There is no communication between Langagne and Genvielhac, in the Department of Lozère; none between Roquefort and Bordeaux, in the Lower Pyrenees, although the merchants of Pau have proved it would be a shorter route than through Toulouse.

In the Eastern Pyrenees the correspondence of the Department with that of the Department of Aude takes up five days; it should be done in one.

The most egregious villainies having been perpetrated in the Department of the _Haut Rhin_, it has been thought _wise, prudent, and politic to suspend the postal arrangements there altogether_.

Unless letters addressed to Ministers and officers of the Government are _prepaid_, they will never reach their destination. The Ministers make an annual charge of postage, and cabbage the difference. At first sight this perquisite may seem trivial for the fingers of an officer of State. But these officers are Ministers who have their fortunes to make.

Hence every little helps.

It should seem that circumstances, times, places, persons, things are of more importance in France than elsewhere. This was a common mania under the old Government, but _it_ had the great resources of commerce, arts, and the wants of a great number of rich proprietors, who, unhappily, have now, with arts and commerce, been destroyed. Nevertheless, the opinion still prevails that the Government can command the harvest, and compel persons to sell and buy.

The business, however, of the Government is to correct itself by experience, to secure itself against the mistakes and bad measures of commercial administration. For no private industry, no knowledge of commercial affairs, can secure individuals against the folly of a bad Minister, or the pernicious effects of his administrative regulations. This reasoning has no influence in France; Government is required to invent, to build, to manufacture--in short, to do everything but consume; and yet this latter is the precise article in which the present Government excels and takes the greatest delight.

The perquisites of postage must be immense, as whenever despatch is required, a solicitation, to be successful, must be accompanied by a very considerable pecuniary compliment. Therefore, the Minister who holds the portfolio of the Postes amasses a considerable sum during his Ministry.

THE LEGISLATIVE BODY.

[Sidenote: CORPS LEGISLATIF]