The things we do!

On this
principle, at Barjols, they tax the Ursulin nuns 1,800 livres, carry
off fifty loads of wheat from the Chapter, eighteen from one poor
artisan, and forty from another, and constrain canons and
beneficiaries to give acquittances to their farmers. Then, from
house to house, with club in hand, they oblige some to hand over
money, others to abandon their claims on their debtors, "one to
desist from criminal proceedings, another to nullify a decree
obtained, a third to reimburse the expenses of a lawsuit gained
years before, a father to give his consent to the marriage of his
son." -- All their grievances are brought to mind, and we all know
the tenacity of a peasant's memory. Having become the master, he
redresses wrongs, and especially those of which he thinks himself
the object. There must be a general restitution; and first, of the
feudal dues which have been collected. They take of M. de
Montmeyan's business agent all the money he has as compensation for
that received by him during fifteen years as a notary.


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