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The State, as omnipotent sovereign and universal proprietor, exercises
at discretion, its boundless rights over persons and things;
consequently we, its representatives, take all things and persons into
our hands; as they belong to it, so do they belong to us.
We have confiscated the possessions of the clergy, amounting to about
four billion livres; we confiscate the property of the emigr?s,
amounting to three billion livres;[3] we confiscate the property of
the guillotined and deported: all this amounts to some hundreds of
millions; later on, the count will be made, because the list remains
open and is being daily added to. We will sequestrate the property of
"suspects," which gives us the right to use it: here are many hundred
millions more; after the war and the banishment of "suspects," we
shall seize the property along with its income: here, again, are
billions of capital.[4] Meanwhile we take the property of hospitals
and of other benevolent institutions, about eight hundred million
livres ; we take the property of factories, of endowments, of
educational institutions, and of literary and scientific associations:
another lot of millions.[5] We take back the domains rented or
surrendered by the State for the past three centuries and more, which
gives again about a couple of billions.
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