Chapter 4

IN THE PAS-DE-CALAIS--(_continued_)

Aire-sur-la-Lys--Local and general elections in France--A public meeting in rural Artois--A councillor-general and his constituents--Artois in the 18th and 19th centuries--Well-tilled fields, fine roads, hedges, and orchards--Effect of long or short leases--A meeting in a grange--French, English, and American audiences--Favouritism under the conscription--Extravagant outlay on scholastic palaces--Almost a scene--A political disturbance promoted--Canvassing in England and France--Tenure of office in the French Republic--'To the victors belong the spoils,' the maxim not of Jackson but of Danton--'Epuration,' what it means--If Republicans are not put into office 'they will have civil war'--'No justice of the peace nor public school teacher to be spared'--'Terror and anarchy carried into all branches of the public service'--M. de Freycinet declares that 'servants of the State have no liberty in politics'--The Tweed régime of New York officially organised in France---Men of position reluctant to take office--The expense of French elections--1,300,000_l._ sterling the estimated cost of an opposition campaign--A little dinner in a French country house--The French cuisine national and imported--An old Flemish city--Devastations of the Revolution--The beautiful Church of St.-Pierre--A picturesque Corps de Garde--The tournament of Bayard at Aire--Sixteenth-century merry-makings at Aire--Gifts to Mary of England on her marriage to Philip of Spain--The ancient city of Thérouanne--Public schools in the 17th century--Small landholders in France before 1789. 53-72