[6] We take the possessions of
the communes up to the amount of their indebtedness. We have already
received as inheritance the ancient domains of the crown, also the
later domain of the civil list. More than three-fifths[7] of the soil
thus falls into our hands, which three-fifths are much the best
stocked; they comprise almost all the large and fine edifices,
ch?teaux, abbeys, mansions, houses of superintendents and nearly all
the royal, episcopal, seigniorial and bourgeois stock of rich and
elegant furniture; all plate, libraries, pictures and artistic objects
accumulated for centuries. -- Remark, again, the seizure of specie
and all other articles of gold and silver; in the months alone of
November and December, 1793, this swoop puts into our coffers three or
four hundred millions,[8] not assignats, but ringing coin. In short,
whatever the form of established capital may be we take all we can get
hold of, probably more than three-fourths of it. -- There remains the
portion which is not fixed capital, that which disappears in use,
namely, all that is consumed, all the fruits of the soil, every
description of provision, all the products of human art and labor
which contribute the maintenance of existence.
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