in assignats to the
informer. -- As, furthermore, we make requisitions for bed-linen,
beds, clothes, provisions, wines and the rests, along with specie and
precious metals, the condition of the mansion may be imagined,
especially after we have lodged in it; it is the same as if the house
had been on fire; all movable property and all real estate have
perished. - Now that both are destroyed they must not be allowed to
accumulate again. To ensure this,
1. we abolish, according to rule, the freedom of bequest,[56]
2. we prescribe equal and obligatory divisions of all
inheritances;[57]
3. we include bastards in this under the same title as legitimate
children;
4. we admit representation ? l'infini,[58] "in order to multiply
heirs and parcel out inheritances;"[59]
5. we reduce the disposable portion to one-tenth, in the direct line,
and one-sixth in a collateral line;
6. we forbid any gift to persons whose income exceeds one thousand
quintals of grain;
7. we inaugurate adoption, "an admirable institution," and
essentially republican, "since it brings about a division of large
properties without a crisis."
Already, in the Legislative Assembly a deputy had stated that "equal
rights could be maintained only by a persistent tendency to uniformity
of fortunes.
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