Past and Present Society

The "Red Scare" of the 1790s: The French Revolution and the "Agrarian Law"
Author(s): R. B. Rose
Source: Past & Present, No. 103 (May, 1984), pp. 113-130
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of Past and Present Society
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THE "RED SCARE" OF THE I79os:

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND

THE "AGRARIAN LAW"

ON 13 MARCH I793, IN THE FOURTH YEAR OF THE REVOLUTION, ON

thepropositionof BertrandBareretheFrenchNationalConvention
decreedthedeathpenaltyfor"anyonewhoshallproposetheagrarian
noted about this decree:
law". Two thingsshould be particularly
amid
scenes
that
it
was
of
generaland almosthysterical
firstly
passed
enthusiasm,withthe onlyvoice of cautioncomingfromJean-Paul
Marat; and secondlythat the Conventionfailedto defineexactly
what the "agrarianlaw" was, despite attachingsuch a fearsome
penalty. There were,in consequence,veryfewprosecutionsunder
have one significant
thedecree.2It did nevertheless
effect:henceforward anybodywho wantedto put forwardany particularly
radical
piece of land legislationalways added a prefaceor a postscript
explainingthatwhat theywere proposingwas notthe agrarianlaw,
but somethingelse.
One thingthatis clearfromthe Conventiondebateis thateverybodyknew,in generalterms,whattheagrarianlaw was. It was the
forcibleredivisionof property,and particularly
of landed property,
itwas something
derivedfromthehistory
ofancientRome,
originally
and it was a conceptmisunderstoodand pervertedby its modern
advocates.The firstquestionwe need to ask is: how real was this
fearoftheagrarianlaw?Was theConventionreactingto a realthreat?
movementaimingto redistribute
Was thereanysignificant
property
Revolution?
the
French
during
It has long been recognizedthattherewere indeed advocatesof
"the agrarianlaw" in themarginofthehistoryoftherevolution.As
long ago as I899 AlphonseAulard discussedseveralof themin his
lectureson Socialismduringthe revolution:3Andre Lichtenberger
unearthedothersin his book Le socialisme
et la Revolution
franqaise
published the same year.4The volumes of Jean Jaures'sHistoire
socialiste,
datingfromtheearly 90oos,also gave space to revolutionist ser., 1787-99(Paris, 1907), Ix, pp. 290-3.
1 Archivesparlementaires,
Louis-PierreCroissy,parishpriestofHangestin Picardy,was prosecutedin 1793:
G. Lefebvre,Etudessurla Revolution
francaise(Paris, 1954), pp. 298-304;I knowof
no othercase.
3 A.
Aulard,Etudeset leconssurla Revolution
franfaise, 4th ser. (Paris, 1904), pp.
20-65.
4 A.
Le socialismeet la Revolution
Lichtenberger,
francaise(Paris, 1899), esp. pp.
42-5.
2

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I 14

PAST AND PRESENT

NUMBER 103

aryproponentsofradicalagrarianredistribution.5
Subsequentlythe
FrenchhistoriansMathiez,Lefebvreand Soboul haveadded further
noteson individualagrarianradicals,6buttherehas beenno methodical explorationas yetof agrarianlaw as a continuingand evolving
conceptduringthe FrenchRevolution.
To understandwhatthe revolutionary
generationof Frenchmen
meant by the agrarianlaw we must firstask, in turn,what they
thoughtthe Romans had meantby it. The generalquestionof the
revolutionaries'
oftheancientworldwas tackledvery
understanding
in the I930s by H. T. Parkerin his The CultofAntiquity
effectively
and theFrenchRevolution.7Parker devotesonly about a page to
the agrarianlaw, but he does draw valuable generalconclusions
information
aboutthe
concerningthesourcesof therevolutionaries'
classical past. As far as the historyof Rome was concerned,the
wheremostofBarere'scontemporaries
textbooksused in thecolleges,
gainedtheireducation,tendedto be limitedto Livy'sRomanHistory,
usuallythefirstthreebookswhichcovertheperiodfromthefounding
ofthecityto theend ofthefourthcenturyB.C., to Sallust'saccounts
oftheJugurthine
War and theCatilineconspiracy,and to Plutarch's
Lives (in Latin translation).
For the presentpurposeswe may virtuallydiscountSallust. In
Livy, on the other hand, conflictover agrarianlegislationis a
constantlyrecurringthemeof his explanationof the decay of the
beginswiththe
republic,frombook II onward.8Livy's treatment
consulateof SpuriusCassius Vicellinus,in 486-5B.C., whenCassius
proposedto divide land confiscatedfroman enemytribebetween
theLatin alliesand Romanplebeians,and to includein thisdistribution land currently
held by individualsbut belongingto the state.
"It was thenthatthelexagrariawas firstpromulgated",Livywrites,
"and fromthatday", he adds, "to withinlivingmemory,ithas never
been broughtup withoutoccasioningthemostseriousdisturbance".
This is because of the potentialappeal of the agrarianlaw, bothto
and to demagogic
theplebeians,forobviousreasonsof self-interest,
politiciansin searchof popularsupport.
Book inlofLivy'shistorybegins,in 467 B.C., withanotherattempt
5 J. Jaures,Histoiresocialiste,13 vols. (Paris, 1901-8),iv, pp. 1646-58.
socialsousla Terreur
A. Mathiez,La vie choreet le mouvement
(Paris, 1927), pp.
de la Terreur
(La Roche-sur-Yon,1954),
90-4; G. Lefebvre,Questions
agrairesau temps
la
Revolution
A.
(Paris, I981), pp. 187-94;A. Soboul,
passim; Soboul, Comprendre
3
"Utopie et Revolutionfranqaise",in J. Droz (ed.), Histoiregeneraledu socialisme,
vols. (Paris, 1972-7),i, ch. 5.
7 H. T.
and
the
French
Revolution
The
Cult
Parker,
ofAntiquity
(Chicago, 1937).
8 References
are notprovidedforthestandardclassicaltextsof Livyand Plutarch.
For modernresearchon Roman agrarianlegislation,see G. Tibiletti,"II possesso
sino ai Gracchi",Athenaeum,
xxvi
dell agerpublicuset le normede modoagrorum
6

(1948), pp. 173-236, and xxvii (1949), pp. 183-266. The present study is, however,

concernedwithwhatwas known,or believed,in the eighteenth

century.

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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE "AGRARIAN LAW"

115

at a land law by "agrarians", this time led by the consul Titus

Aemilianus:"generosityat othermen's expense", as the historian
calls it. Those who delved deeperthanthe usual schoolcurriculum
and read Livy's book VI would discoverthatin the 370S thetribune
Caius Licinius Stolo gave his nameto theLex Licinia,whichestablished a limit of 500 iugerafor the tenureof public land by an
individual.(The Romaniugermeasuredapproximately
two-thirds
of
an acre.) Book LVIII, though survivingonly in summaryform,
discusses Tiberius Gracchus' attempt,in 133 B.C., to revivethe
applicationof restriction,this time by settingthe maximumat
and
I,ooo iugeraof public land, with provisionfor confiscating
thesurplusamongthelandless.The summary
ofbook
redistributing
LXI refersto Tiberius' brotherCaius Gracchus'subsequentfightto
apply a similarlaw, afterTiberius' murder.
forthislaterperiod,however,is Plutarch's
Far more influential
account,fromthevantagepointofthefirst
lengthyand sympathetic
Gracchusbrothers
centuryA.D., of thestrugglesofthehigh-minded
to restorethebasisofRomanRepublicanvirtue,civiland military
and equality- byredistributing
thatis, simplicity
thepublicdomain
moreequally, in the face of the stubbornresistanceof the corrupt
and selfishPatricians.Plutarchseemsto havebeen theauthorpeople
weremostlikelytohaveread,whetherin Latin,in Frenchtranslation
or, exceptionally,in the originalGreek. In Plutarcheighteenthmoreover,witha muchmore
centuryFrenchmenwereconfronted,
radicalversionof the agrarianlaw, drawnfromGreekhistory:the
historian'sglowingaccountof Lycurgus'reformsin Sparta. There
theylearntthatthegreatlawgiverdid notmerely,as did theRoman
divide up a reserveof public land; he seized all landed
reformers,
property,both public and private,and divided it out among all
Spartancitizenson a basis of completeequality.Plutarchrecords:
The lot of each was large enoughto produceannuallyseventybushelsof barley
fora man and twelveforhis wife,witha proportionate
amountof wine and oil.
forthem,since they
Lycurgusthoughtthata lot of thissize would be sufficient
neededsustenanceenoughto promotevigourand healthofbody,and nothingelse.

Later,Plutarchgivesan accountofthestruggleofLycurgus'successors,theSpartankingsAgisand Cleomenes,to restorethisprimitive

and salutaryequality, against the encroachmentsof debilitating
luxuryon the part of the Spartanupper classes, an accountwhich
he pairs deliberatelywithhis chapteron the Gracchi.
Lycurgusalso figures
heroicallyin thestandardeighteenth-century
text,Charles Rollin's Histoireancienne,six large volumeson preRoman antiquity first published in I740,9 and in the abbe
9 CharlesRollin,Histoireanciennedes egyptiens,
des carthaginiens,
des assyriens,
des
des medeset des perses,des macedoniens,
des grecs,6 vols. (Paris, 1740).
babyloniens,
For Lycurgus,see ibid., ii, pp. 23 ff.

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II6

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NUMBER 103

Barthelemy'sfive-volumeVoyagedu jeune Anacharsisen Grece,10

whichwas just arrivingon people's librarytables in 1789, having
been publishedthe previousyear;threeeditionsappearedbetween
1788 and I790. There were thus,in fact,two chiefversionsof the
agrarianlaw available in the eighteenthcentury.The firstwas the
Romanversion,comparatively
moderate:a law to restrict
theprivate
exploitationof public land and to makethesurplusavailableforthe
use of the poor and landless.The secondwas the Spartanversion,
much more radical,whichinvolvedthe resumptionby the stateof
all land, public or private,and its redistribution
equallyamongall
citizens.Often,however,the two versionswereconfusedtogether,
to a greateror lesserdegree.This was so, doubtless,partlybecause
people did not read Livy carefully
enough,but probablyevenmore
becausethearguments
adducedbybothLivyand Plutarchin defence
of themoderateRoman versionwereidenticalwiththosepresented
in defenceof the radical Spartan version. The civic virtueand
military
prowessoftheRomanRepublicand theSpartanstate,itwas
explained,were based on the readinessof theiregalitariancitizenry
to serveand fightfora homelandin whichtheyhad bothproperty
and dignity.With the passage of timethe accumulationof wealth
and luxurycreatedsocietiesrivenbetweenthe effeterichand the
disaffectedpoor: even Sallust and Cicero, thoughno preachersof
the agrarianlaw, concurredin thatgeneralmoralverdict.
did thephilosophes
whentheyturnedtheirattention
So, inevitably,
to thesequestions.In his Considerations
surles causesde la grandeur
des Romainset leurdecadence,Montesquieucited both the Spartan
and the Roman experiencetogether:"The foundersof the ancient
republicshad dividedout thelandequally.That alonemadea people
powerful,thatis to say, a well-regulated
society;it also made fora
good army,each man havingan equal interest,and a greatone,
in defendinghis fatherland".'1Montesquieu consequentlywrote
of TiberiusGracchus'career.12
admiringly
In De l'espritde lois,while he recalledCicero's condemnationof
agrarianlaws as an attack on legitimateproperty,Montesquieu
neverthelessdeclared that "the most perfectrepublicis the most
equal", and defended"laws forthe new divisionof the fieldsdemandedin somerepublics"as "salutaryintheirnatureanddangerous
only if applied suddenly".13
Rousseau not only defendedthe necessityof agrarianlaws, but
10Jean-JacquesBarthelemy,Voyagedu jeune Anacharsisen Grece, vols.
(Paris,
5
1788). The discussionof Lycurgusand otherancientlegislators,
ibid.,ii, pp. 547 ff.,
seemsto haveprovidedthesourceofthemoreesotericknowledgedisplayedbyseveral
advocatesof the agrarianlaw.
revolutionary
n Oeuvrescompletes
de Montesquieu,
3 vols. (Paris, 1950 edn.), i, p. 366.
12
13

Ibid., p. 369.

Ibid., pp. 130-1.

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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE "AGRARIAN LAW"

117

de la
actuallydraftedone himselfin his Projetpouruneconstitution
Corse.It would have establishedan initialclose equalityof property
amongCorsicancitizens,and thenfixeda maximumlimitforfuture
Althoughcomposedin the 176os,Rousseau'sCorsilandholdings.14
can projectwas notpublisheduntil186I, so thatnobody(exceptthe
author)was aware of it in the eighteenthcentury.Thus the main
relevantguidance available to Rousseauistswas the note in the
Contratsocial which lays down the generalprinciplethata "solid
and enduringstate must have no extremesof wealth", "neither
millionairesnor beggars",15consideredtogetherwith Rousseau's
generalargumentthat propertyis a social conventionand not a
be regulatedby the
naturalright,and thatits tenuremaytherefore
General Will.
The abbe Mably had a greatdeal moreto say, and to the point.
sur les Romainsofferedthe usual accountof
Mably's Observations
declineof primitiveand virtuousequalityand the consequentruin
the attempts
of Republicanliberty,and it discussedwithsympathy
ofSpuriusCassius,LiciniusStoloand theGracchito haltthatdecline
de PhocionMably
by invokingthe agrarianlaw.16In his Entretiens
gavea closelysimilarexplanationofthedeclineofGreece,and made
Phocionas a Greekphilosopher-statesman
advocatea "severelaw"
to prohibitscandalousfortunes;thewholeworkwas, in anycase, a
paean of praiseforLycurgus.17
writtenin 1776,
Mably'smostradicalessaywas De la legislation,18
and in this work, while praising the Greek and Roman precedents,
he incorporated an open and clear call for agrarian laws, not in
ancient Greece or Rome, but in eighteenth-century
France, to redress
modern and not ancient inequalities of wealth and power. Mably's
argument shiftsconfusingly,moving from general principles to the
ideal case of a democratic republic with no distinctions between
citizens, before finallyreturningto a contemporaryEurope in which
there are, almost universally, legally distinct orders. In the real
world, the best Mably can suggest is agrarian laws to separate the
patrimonyof each order - nobles, ecclesiastics, commoners - and
then to establish maximum holdings within each order.19 Yet even
this would have protected peasant lands from encroachment by the
nobility and from the rapacity of wealthy commoners. Elsewhere in
the book laws of succession are defended which would compel the
division of landed property among a number of actual or adopted
14

Jean-JacquesRousseau, Oeuvrescompletes,
4 vols. (Paris, I964), iii, pp. 936-7,

942-4.

'5 Ibid., p. 392 n.

Oeuvrescompletes
de l'abbe de Mably, 12 vols. (Lyon, 1796), iv, passim.
7 Ibid., x, passim;forthe "severe law", see p. io6.
8 Ibid., ix, passim.
9 Ibid.,
pp. 120-5.
6

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II8

PAST AND PRESENT

NUMBER I 03

heirs, with property,where there are no heirs, revertingto the

was
statefordivisionamongpoor local families.20
De la legislation
availableforthebold and discerningreaderin a Swiss editionfrom
1777, but it was probablynot untilI789, whenthefirstfulledition
of Mably's collected works was published in London, that his
argumentsbecame reallywidelyaccessible. Thus De la legislation
deservesto be more properlyregardedas the firstamongthe conrevolutionary
temporary
pamphletsadvocatingthe agrarianlaw for
modernFrance.
In summary,it is evidentthaton the eve of the revolutionmost
educated Frenchmenknew thatin the ancientworldthe agrarian
lawhadmeant,attheminimum,somelegalrestraint
on theaccumulationofland bytherichand, at themaximum,thewholesaleconfiscationof all landedproperty
and its redistribution
amonga people on
an egalitarianbasis.
Moreover,the classical advocatesof the agrarianlaw had been
presentedto theFrenchyoung,in theirschooldaysand in theiradult
itself
readingtoo, as admirablefigures,and agrarianredistribution
as a positivemoralact of statesmanship.
The extentto whichsuch
notionscontinuedto be recognizedin maturity
as usefulor relevant
naturallyvariedfrompersonto person. It is not maintained(and
thatFrenchmen
Parkeris carefulto dismisssuch an interpretation)
made a revolutionin 1789 because of theiradmirationfortheGreek
and Roman republics,or even that the course of the revolution
was fundamentally,
as opposed to symbolically,
influencedby that
admiration.Therewereonlya handfuloffanaticswho,likeMadame
a senseof
feltstrongly
Roland, CamilleDesmoulinsand Saint-Just,
exile fromtheirtruefatherlandin republicanantiquity.Moreover
evenamongsuchclassicalenthusiaststheagrarianlaw was generally
only of marginalconcern.
Where propertywas in question, other powerfulcurrentsof
thoughtcontended: the conservativelawyers'philosophyof the
that societyexistedto guaranteeto each man his own;
parlements
the economists'vindicationof the social utilityof large property;
argumentsdrawnfromLocke and the physiocratsforthe natural
ofproperty
rights.At thesametimethegeneration
imprescriptibility
of 1789 was confrontedby intractableproblemsof povertyand
inequality,notin thepages of Livy and Plutarch,but in thefacesof
beggarsin the streetsand in thereportsof theComitede Mendicite.
The Comitede Mendiciteof the French ConstituentAssembly
concludedin 1791thattherewereaboutone in tenofthepopulation,
morethantwo million,in need of poor reliefas "deserving"poor.
OlwenHufton,in herstudyofThePoorinEighteenth-Century
France,
20

Ibid., pp. 116-19.

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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE "AGRARIAN LAW"

119

shows thatas a recordof povertythiswas a grossunderstatement

formedabovea thirdand
and thatthepoorand theindigenttogether
perhapsas much as halfof the totalpopulation.21If mostpeasants
owned some land, threequartersof all peasant families,perhaps
fifteenmillionpeople, owned eitherless than theyrequiredfora
regularsubsistenceor noneat all. At theotherend ofthescale there
were the vast estatesof the nobilityand the church,and the solid
holdingsofbourgeoislandownersand the"coqs du village";successful big farmerswho monopolizedthe major share of fermes,or
leaseholdfarms,and who were a particulartargetof the envyand
hostilityof the poorerpeasants.This was the realitywhichformed
the settingforthe abstractspeculationof the Frenchrevolutionary
agrarians.
in thespringof 1789offered
The electionsfortheEstates-General
fortheexpressionsofmoreconcreteprotest.In their
an opportunity
cahierde doleances,or petitionof grievances,draftedby the parish
fromancientRoman
priestAntoineGuenotwithcopiousillustrations
the
inhabitants
of
in
the
C6te-d'Or
demanded
history,
Chevannay
"that to restoreits ancientlustreto agriculture,thereshould be
an agrarianlaw".22What thevillagers
made by the Estates-General
wantedwas fairlymoderate:everyfermier
to be compelledto liveon
his holding,agricultureto be honoured,and all idle citizensto be
to the
deportedto thetownsin ignominy.This is theonlyreference
agrarianlaw thathas so farturnedup in the cahiers,but Lefebvre
has shown thatthe thing,if not the name, was verymuch in the
mindsof some peasantcommunitiesin I789. Thus the villagersof
Fosses, not farfromParis, "could see no reasonwhythe holdings
of the seigneurshouldnot be restricted
to a quarteror a fifth
of the
cultivatedarea", witha sixthor a sevenththemaximumforanybody
else. Those ofVaires,nearLagny,soughtthedistribution
ofcommon
pasturesforcultivation.SaintRemyl'Honore,in theIle de France,
asked for the lands of the monasteriesto be divided out among
"fathersof families"at an appropriaterent,a demand echoed by
Volnay,in the Marne region.23
At a somewhatgreaterdistancefromthefurrowthewriterRestif
de la Bretonnefreedhimselffromhis obsessionwiththe subjectof
fora sufficient
in the
prostitution
space to offertheEstates-General,
firstpart of his utopia Le thesmographe,24
a proposalthat,since a
total redistribution
was impracticable,landed propertyshould be
21
22

Olwen Hufton,ThePoor ofEighteenth-Century

France(Oxford,1974), pp. 22-4.
Regine Robin, La societefrancaiseen 1789: Sbmuren Auxois(Paris, 1970), pp.
revealsthe influenceof Plinythe Elder on Roman
287, 367. Guenot's formulation
agriculture.
23
Lefebvre,Questionsagrairesau tempsde la Terreur,
pp. 5-8.
24
Nicolas-EdmeRestifde la Bretonne,Le thesmographe,
ou ideesd'unhonnete
homme
(The Hague, 1789), esp. pp. 92-4.

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120

PAST AND PRESENT

NUMBER 103

to
separated(as in Mably) into two sectionsattributedrespectively
nobles and commoners,and thatthe commoners'land should be
dividedmore or less equally among the inhabitants.The author's
own Burgundianpeasantoriginswere stillclose enoughforhim to
introducea certainrealismhere:lotswouldvaryfromI8 arpents
(or
(90 acres)in poor.25Restifdid
22-5 acres) in good land to 72 arpents
not describe these arrangements
as an agrarianlaw, but he paid
tributeto theinspirationof Lycurgusof Spartaand Minos of Crete
(on whom Lycurguswas said to have modelledhis own laws) and
remindedhis readersof thewell-knowncauses of the depopulation
and declineof Rome.
Rome also offeredanotherhistoricalprecedentforhis system,the
Mosaic law prescribingfortheJewsa "Jubilee"or redivisionevery
fiftyyears, proposingthat the Estates-Generalshould adopt this
practicein France. Furtheradvice was tenderedto the EstatesGeneralby a thirty-one-page
pamphlet,anonymously
published,on
"the necessityand means of establishingan agrarianlaw".26 The
authorwas Martindes Salins,a minorroyalofficial
in theadministranotunacquaintedwiththe
tionof the royaldomains,and therefore
realitiesof rurallife. The pamphletbegan withan analysisof the
causes of the "miseryof the people", chiefamongwhichwas the
and therichgenerally,
freedomwithwhichfinanciers,
could acquire
immenseterritorial
possessionsby purchaseor inheritance,
leaving
littleland forthe use of the people. Land was all the timepassing
into an ever smallernumberof hands. Moreoverthose drivento
make a livingby industrywere in turnmade even morewretched
by the steadilygrowingcompetitionof the dispossessed.Martin's
solutionwas an agrarianlaw whichwouldpreventfutureinheritance
or acquisitionabove a certainfixedmaximum- 2,000 arpentsfor
marriedmen and ,000oforunmarried.There would be no interference withexistingpropertyrights.
ifbrief,discussionoftheagrarianlaw was
Anothercontemporary,
contributedby Camille Desmoulinsin JuneI789, in his influential
of thesupposed
pamphletFrancelibre.The contextwas a refutation
contentionof the nobilitythat to concede democraticor majority
rule by the people, would, in practice,resultin the destruction
of
propertyby the votingof an agrarianlaw. Desmoulins'snot very
was thatthe agrarianlaw could not
convincingcounter-argument
since the days of ancientRome,
succeed because the propertyless,
had neverbeen givenpoliticalrights,and iftheyhad notsucceeded
in wrestingland fromthe governorsof Rome, "which had the
25 The
arpent,the standardunitof area measurebeforetheadoptionof themetric
system,variedin size fromregionto region,but was generallyabout I'25 acres,or
0-3 hectares.
26 [C. C. Martindes Salins], Necessite
et moyens
d'etablirune loi agraire,d'assurer
la subsistance
le clergeet la constitution
militaire
despauvres,de reformer
(n.p., I789).

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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE "AGRARIAN LAW"

121

universeas its gift",theywouldhardlysucceedin moderntimes.In

de Paris newspaperturnedDesmoulins's
NovembertheRevolutions
argumentinside out by warningthat the exclusionof the people
frompoliticalpowermighteasilyproducea revolution"whichwould
have agrarianlaws as its object".27
thereis no evidence
Despite theseand otherscatteredintimations
thatthe agrarianlaw was a matterof seriousconcernor discussion
duringthe firsttwo yearsof therevolution:it was certainlynevera
matterof debate in the ConstituentAssembly,which had other
mattersof moreimportanceto deal withand, moreover,began its
of France by uncompromisingly
restructuring
declaringproperty
and sacredas well,in the
inviolable,imprescriptible
natural,
rights
Declarationof the Rightsof Man, in SeptemberI789.
It was notuntiltheend of 1790 thatthenotionof an agrarianlaw
surfacedagain, and only duringthe firstmonthsof 1791 did it
becomethesubjectofgeneraldebate.The introducer
ofthisdebate,
in effect,was the abbe Claude Fauchet, chiefpublic oratorof the
radical politicalclub, the Cercle Social. In October I790 Fauchet
on Rousbegan a seriesof twenty-five
weeklypublic commentaries
seau's Contratsocial at the Palais Royal, which quickly attracted
crowdsof severalthousandsto the sessionsof the Cercle Social. In
his sixthdiscourse,in mid-November,examiningthenatureof the
primitivesocial contract,Fauchetwas led by thecombinedforceof
Rousseau's inspirationand his own oratoryto proclaimthe master
principlethataccordingto "the eternalorderof justice . . . every
man has a rightto theland and oughtto have thereas propertythe
domainof his existence".28AlthoughFauchetexplicitlydisavowed
the precedentsof Sparta,Rome and the Hebrews,arguingthatthe
only safe guide was the law of nature,his Palais Royal audience
immediatelyassumedthathe was advocatingthe agrarianlaw, and
hissed him for it, accordingto Desmoulins, for half an hour.29
Fauchet was also denounced at the JacobinClub, and he was to
spend the nextthreeyearstryingto explainaway his embarrassing
ventureinto social radicalism.
Otherswere less timorous.In January1791 JamesRutledge,a
prominentmember of the CordeliersClub of English descent,
foundeda new journalin Paris, Le creuset,
and he devotedhis first
numberto a serious-minded
discussionofthequestionofthehour
theagrarianlaw. Rutledgewas carefulto disavowwhathe described
27
CamilleDesmoulins,La Francelibre,3rdedn. (n.p., 1789),pp. 13-16.The first
editionappeared just before,and the second shortlyafter,JulyI4; Revolutions
de
Paris, no. 17 (3I Oct. - 7 Nov. 1789), p. 9.
28 Bouche
defer,Ist ser., no. 22 (Nov. 1790), p. 346. For a summaryof Fauchet's
careerand social views,see R. B. Rose, "Socialismand theFrenchRevolution:The
Cercle Social and the Enrages", Bull. JohnRylandsLib., xli (1958-9), pp. 139-66.
29 Revolutions
de France et de Brabant,no. 54 (6 Dec. 1790), pp. 50-62.

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as the childishperceptionof the agrarianlaw held by those"more

readyto becomealarmedoverwordsthanto penetratethemeaning
of things", the belief that it representedthe more or less equal
divisionof land and fortuneamongall themembersof civilsociety.
Such a law, he agreed,would be everywhere
impossibleto execute,
and destructive.The onlypracticableagrarianlaw would be one to
proscribeinequalitiesin propertyso greatthatthefewin possession
would be able to ruleovereveryoneelse.30But Rutledgealso urged
the ConstituentAssemblyto seize a golden opportunity,having
sequestratedthelands of thechurch,to dividethoselands, "partof
the nationalagrarianpatrimony",among the needypeasants.31A
fewweeks later,in April,Rutledgewould be booed intosilenceat
the JacobinClub foradvocatingsuch views.32
In the meantimea morepowerfulvoice had takenup the theme
ofagrarianinequality.At theend of 1790thepublisherPrudhomme
had calledon SylvainMarechal,latertobe one ofBabeuf'scollaborators in the Conspiracyof the Equals, to edit the most successful
de Paris.
French revolutionary
journalof the day, the Revolutions
Distributedin Lyons as well as Paris, the journalclaimed200,000
readers,an enormousfigurefor the time.33At the beginningof
February 1791 Marechal published, withoutsigningit, a major
radicalattackon thepersistenceofinequalityand povertyin France.
The titlewas "Concerningthe Poor and the Rich", and the article
voluntarurgedtherichto agreeto surrendersomeoftheirproperty
are
"this
law
of
which
in
order
to
forestall
agrarian
people already
ily,
shouldhandoverat leastenough
talking".Everywealthyproprietor
de Paris
land to endowone landlesspeasantfamily.The Revolutions
wenton to demand "the proclamationof the agrarianlaw" which
would divideup wastesand commonlands "coveringa thirdof the
surfaceof the empire".34
In April La Harpe, in the Mercurede France, one of the most
voicesof theconservatives,
influential
printeda rejoinder,an article
on "the absurdchimeraof an agrarianlaw in France". The Mercure
deParis and Rutledge,and suggested
denouncedboththeRevolutions
that theironly supportwould come fromthe Bicetre,the Madhouse.35Marechalcounteredby pointingout thatLa Harpe's mud
wouldfallon thecloaksofMoses, Lycurgus,Platoand Jean-Jacques
as a readerfamiliar
Rousseau, "who have servedas our authorities,
with theirimmortalwritingsought to have perceived"- not to
mentionSesostrisof Egypt,Minos ofCrete,CecropsofAthens,and
Le creuset,
no. I (3 Jan. 1791), pp. 10 ff.
Ibid., no. 8 (i Feb. 1791), pp. 145 ff.
32 A.
Aulard,La societedesJacobins,6 vols. (Paris, 1889-96),ii, p. 303.
33 Revolutions
de Franceet de Brabant,no. 45 (5 Oct. 1790), p. 263.
34 Rvolutionsde Paris, no. 82 (29 Jan.- 4 Feb. 1791), pp. I7I-5.
35 Mercurede France,xiv (23 Apr. 1791), pp. 142-7.
30

31

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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE "AGRARIAN LAW

123

Philolausat Thebes. "The FrenchRevolution",theRevolutions

de
Paris proclaimed,"is a veritableagrarianlaw put intoexecutionby
the people. The people have regainedtheirrights;one step more
and theywill have regainedtheirproperty".36
theabbe Antoine
Againstthebackgroundofthislivelycontroversy
de Cournandpublisheda detailedplan fora modernagrarianlaw in
ou la causede pauvre.37Cournandwas
his pamphletDe la propriete,
a distinguished
classicalscholar,a professor
at theCollegede France,
and his list of authoritieswas even longerand more eruditethan
Marechal's. His practicalproposalswere forthe totalabolitionof
inheritance,so that all landed propertywould revertto the state
withina generation.Two-thirdswould thenbe made availablefor
ofabout
providinga patrimony
equal divisionamongall inhabitants,
4'5 arpentsper head, or about 18 arpentsfora familyof four.The
remainingone-thirdwould be leased out by the state,providingall
nationalrevenue,and thusfreeingthe populationfromthe burden
of taxation.
Aboutthesametime,Nicolas de Bonneville,illuminist
freemason,
editorof the Cerclesocial journal and a close associateof Claude
Fauchet, published the firstedition of his book De l'espritdes
Bonneville'ssense is not alwayseasy to disentanglefrom
religions.
his nonsense,but his book was clear at least in its defenceof the
agrarianlaw, this time attributednot only to the wisdomof the
ancientworld but also, on the strengthof Caesar's and Tacitus'
to the"European Druids" and to theFrankishancescommentaries,
torsof the Frenchnation. "You will say thatan annual divisionis
impossible",Bonnevilleprotested."I replythatit was a law of the
ofourfathers.This happyand freepeople. . . overthrew
government
the regal people who dictatedarbitrarylaws to the universe".38
Bonneville'schapter39 is entitled"Concerninga MeansofExecution
to Preparethe UniversalDividingOut of the Land". It turnsout,
but
however,not to containproposalsforan annualredistribution,
forinheritancelaws for the
relativelymoderaterecommendations
ofpropertiesamongall relativeson thedeathoftheowners,
splitting
in lots restrictedto fiveor six arpentsa time.39
Dreamsoftheagrarianlaw,howevermoderate,weresooncrushed,
togetherwithotherradicalhopes, by themassacreof theChampde
Mars of 17 July1791 and the period of repressionthatfollowed.
Only afterthe overthrowof the monarchyon Ioth Augustand the
electionof the National Conventionby a democraticsuffrage
were
36 Revolutions de
Paris, no. 96 (7-14 May 1791), pp. 243-7.

37
Antoinede Cournand,De la propriete,
ou la causedu pauvreplaideeau tribunal
de la raison,de la justiceet de la verite(Paris, I791).
38 Nicolas de
Bonneville,De l'espritdes religions
(Paris, 1792 edn.), pp. 52-7.
39 Ibid., pp. 59 ff.

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PAST AND PRESENT

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NUMBER I03

expectationsof fundamentalsocial reformrevived,and withthem

hopes foran agrarianlaw.
One of the most influential
of thisnew revivalwas
protagonists
anotherparish priest, Pierre Dolivier, cure of Mauchamp, near
Etampes.Doliviercanvassedsupportamongthesectionsandpopular
societiesforwhatJauresdescribedas "thesolecompleteandcoherent
plan of theagrarianlaw thatwas proposedduringtherevolution".40
In pointof factDolivierdid not call his plan an agrarianlaw, and
indeedwhenhe publishedit in 1793(shortlyafterthepromulgation
of Barere'sdecree)he carefullyexplainedthatit was nothingof the
sort.Nor was his inspirationat all classical.There is no tributeto
Lycurgusor to the Gracchi.Instead the authoracknowledgesthe
inspirationof the Contratsocialand relieson firstprinciples.These
lead him to draw a distinctionbetweenthe land, of which each
generationis entitledto makea use but to whichnobodymayassert
exclusiverights,and otherpossessions,to whichtitleis established
by labour.
Workingthe soil, forDolivier,does not (as in Locke) establisha
freedomto
title,and the social contractleaves men unrestricted
determine,in principle,theconditionson whichland maybe held.
Contraryto naturaljustice,at presentmanypeasantshaveno access
to land at all or verylittle.Dolivierknewwhathe was talkingabout;
Soboul citesa remarkablepiece of researchto show thatthe reality
ofland,
held 92 arpents
of Dolivier'svillagewas thattwobigfermiers
while the thirty-two
other familieshad no more than 86 arpents
betweenthem.41Dolivier'sideal was a modestbut adequatepeasant
farm.Six hundredthousandlivresa year,he explains,willnotmake
anybodyreallyhappy,or "chateaux,finecarriages,lackeys,cooks,
etc.". Since Dolivier'swas withoutdoubta
specialmeats,furniture
dream shared then, and for the next hundredyears,by the vast
majorityof the Frenchpeople, it is worthrecordingin fullwhathe
thoughtwouldmake people happy:
A littlepropertythat I would be able to cultivatemyselfand whose product
would sufficeformy needs. A simple but clean and commodioushouse which
would enclose withinits bounds a gardenthatwould producevegetablesforme
and good fruit;a well-populatedfarmyardwhichwould furnishme abundantly
with eggs and which would garnishmy table fromtime to time with poultry;
separatestableswhereI would have twoor threecows to giveme milkand butter,
a littleflockofewes to have wool and lambs,and finallyI wouldnotforgetthepig
to put in my stye. In the middle of all that,a worthyand virtuousspouse who
would skilfullydispose of these domesticresources,of whichthe surpluswould
marketto bringback whateverthehouseholdmight
be takento the neighbouring
lack, and who would give me some childrento cherish.42

How to achieve this dream? Graduallyat first,and peacefully.

Pierre Dolivier, Essai sur la justiceprimitive(Paris, 1793); Jaures,Histoire

socialiste,iv, p. 1656.
41
la Revolution,p. 198.
Soboul, Comprendre
42
Dolivier,Essai surla justiceprimitive,
pp. 25-7.
40

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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE "AGRARIAN LAW

125

Nobody who has propertynow would have his rightsupset. Leasehold farms(which are not property)would be restrictedto a size
manageableby a singlefamily,and theexcessdividedat a reasonable
rentamong landless peasants; when the currentleases ran out in
moregeneralredistribution.
In
threeor fouryears'time,a further,
the long run unspecifiedmeans will be foundto break up actual
properties.Dolivier's ideal was a holdingof about ten or twelve
arpents.He was forced to admit that such a holding would be
technicallybackward,makingthe use of horse-teamsuneconomic;
oxen would be used instead,"as is customaryin the lands ofpetite
When theirsize is specified,the holdingsenvisagedby
culture".43
manyof the proponentsof the agrarianlaw are seen to be of this
type- in Restif,Cournandand Bonnevilleas well as in Dolivier.
All writein termsof peasantpropertiesof fewerthan20 arpents,
or
25 acres.

In 1789, raisingforthefirsttimethequestionoftheagrarianlaw,
perpetuel
Franqois-NoelBabeufhad equallypointedoutinLe cadastre
that if all the cultivatedland in France, about sixty-sixmillion
weredividedequallyamongthenation'ssixmillionfamilies,
arpents,
the resultwould be averageholdingsof about elevenarpents
which
would be perfectly
adequate to enable everyfamilyto live a decent
if frugallife.44
The advocatesof the agrarianlaw were educatedmen sharinga
common classical formation.Thus they shared also an abstract
idealizationofprimitive
thatwas generally
classicpeasantsimplicity
allyinspired.At thesametimetherewas also evidenta consciousness
of theconcretepressuresimposedon contemporary
ruralsocietyby
the advanceof the capitalistspiritand the accompanying
tendency
towardsthe accumulationof propertyin ever fewerhands.
Despite its apparentpoliticalradicalism,the agrarianlaw was
an attemptto returnto a
economicallyreactionary,representing
traditionalsubsistenceagriculture.Aulardwas convincedthatthere
was widespreadsupportforwhathe termeda "socialist"redistribution of land of this kind in the French countrysideat the timeof
the electionsto the Conventionin the autumnof I792. What is
indisputableis thatthe demandfora limitationof leaseholdfarms
had been fermenting
ever since I789 and was stillverymuch alive
at thistime. Thus in November1792 the electoralassemblyof the
of Seine-et-Oisesubmitteda petitionthatnobodyshould
departement
be allowed to exploitmore than 102 arpentsof land at a time; on
29th November the deputy Lequinio spoke in favourof similar
legislationin the Convention.
43

Ibid., pp. 29-33.

R. B. Rose, Gracchus
Communist
(London, 1978),
Babeuf.TheFirstRevolutionary
p. 52.
44

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The manypeasantpetitionsexaminedby LefebvreforI793 and

1794 generallyfixon a maximumof about 150 arpentsas sufficient
to providea comfortablecompetence.Often,however,the ceiling
was put higherat 300 arpents.Moderntechniqueswould have been
possible on estates of this size, and it seems probable that the
demandsoriginated
peasantfarmersamongwhomsuch grass-roots
representedthe more go-aheadand relativelysuccessfulas well as
Peasants
(by definition)
politicallyvocalelementsin thecountryside.
ofthistypehad littleinterestin a radicalversionoftheagrarianlaw.
The municipality
of Rozet Saint-Albinexplainedto theConvention:
Far fromus thiswildidea . .. ofan equal partition
whichin offering
thehappiness
of natureto man tendsto theovethrowof the socialorder... A smallcultivation
well looked after,a restrictedbut clear horizon thatis what happinessand
reasondemands;here the termof 300 arpentswhichmakesa bit morethanthree
ploughlands(charrues)seems to us equitableand sufficient.45

The politicalleaders of France were neverthelessconscious of

pressuresfrombelowand theneed to findsolutions.In January1793
the Protestantpastor and GirondindeputyRabaut Saint-Etienne
tackledthe problemin the Chroniquede Paris:
Politicalequalityestablished,thepoorsoonfeelthatitis enfeebledbytheinequality
of fortunes,and since equalityis independencetheybecomeindignantand bitter
againstthemenon whomtheyare dependentbecauseof theirneeds; theydemand
the equalityof fortunes:but it is rarethatthe richlend themselveswitha good
grace to thiswish. Thus it mustbe obtainedeitherby forceor by the laws.46

Rabautwenton to argueagainstleavingthingsto "theviolenceof

the poor": the resultswould be onlynew and chaoticinequalities
and renewedturbulence.What was needed were laws, firstlyto
and secondlyto maintain
securethemoreequal divisionoffortunes,
the equalitythus establishedand preventfutureinequalitiesfrom
arising.Having thus neatlysummarizedthe generallyrecognized
objectivesof the agrarianlaw, Rabaut promptlyabandoned this
advanced ground. It would be far too complex an operation,he
explained,formere mortalsto measurethe extentof all kinds of
propertyand populationtotalsand thenon a fixedday carryout an
The legislatormust thereforeseek
actual physicalredistribution.
othermeans,whichwould not be theworkof a quarterof an hour
but ratherof a generation.
This qualificationdid not save Rabaut froma public attackby
Roedererin theJournaldeParis forpreaching"an equalityofmisery,
famineand universalruin".47In his defencethe pastorexplained
that what he had really meant to do was merelyto provide a
in principlefor "ingeniousmeans" to make the rich
justification
forthebenefitofthepoor.48This rapid
surrender
their"superfluity"
45Lefebvre,Questionsagrairesau tempsde la Terreur,
pp. 70-7, I37.
46
Chroniquede Paris, no. 19 (19 Jan. 1793), pp. 73-6.
47Journalde Paris, no. 23 (23 Jan. 1793), pp. 9I-2.
48 Chronique
de Paris, no. 27 (27 Jan. 1793), pp. o06-7.

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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE "AGRARIAN LAW"

127

radicalprincipleto relatively
moderatepractice
leap fromextremely
of all the revolutionary
advocatesof the
had been a characteristic
of the
agrarianlaw; it would now become equally characteristic
approachof the Convention,whetherGirondinor Jacobin,to the
enduringproblemsof inequalityand poverty.
Rabaut's position had indeed already been anticipatedby the
Revolutionsde Paris in SeptemberI792 in a long articleoffering
advice to the newlyassembledConvention.On the one hand the
author(possiblyagain Marechal) proclaimedthe need to secure a
greaterequalityofwealth"whichwoulddestroytheviciousprinciple
of the preponderanceof the richover the poor", and declaredthat
"It oughtnotto be permitted
to a citizento possessmorethana fixed
quantityof revenuefromland in each canton"; one day the law
would regulatefortunes.
de Paris now condemnedthe
On the otherhand the Revolutions
"too notoriousagrarianlaw of the Romans,whichis notat all what
themultitudethinkit is". The timewas notyetripeto strikeat the
aristocracyof wealth and would not be until afterthe wars; the
Conventionmustnot listento thosewho evenin theassemblyitself
pretendedthatthepeoplewantedtheagrarianlaw; forthetimebeing
all thatcould be accomplishedwas to tax thesuperfluity
of therich
and relievethetaxburdenon thepoor.49A subsequentarticlein the
same journalformallyrenouncedthe precedentsof Athens,Sparta
and Rome: "We shall take a different
route;it is naturealone that
we shallconsult:we shallreturnto theimprescriptible
rightsofman
to deduce fromthemthe rightsof the citizen".50
With thisbackgroundin mindit is perhapseasierto understand
how duringthe debate on I3th March, aftersuccessfullysecuring
thedeathpenaltyforpreachingtheagrarianlaw, Barerewas able to
pass on withouta moment'spause to win for the firsttime the
Convention'sapproval for the extraordinarily
radical principleof
progressivetaxation.51In 1793 the French National Convention
faceda fearsomecoalitionofforeignand internalenemies;to survive
and to preservethe revolutionits leadersrecognizedthe need fora
broad coalition of classes.They could not affordto alienate the
classes,bourgeois,peasantor artisan,byindulging
property-owning
in Spartanfantasiesof land redistribution,
and indeed one of the
actsoftheConventioninitsopeningsessionof21 September
veryfirst
1792had beentoplace "propertyunderthesafeguardoftheNation".
At the same timethe Republic had need forbold gesturesin the
directionof social justice,to rallythe sansculottes,the urban and
ruralpoor. The progressivetax was the ideal Jacobincompromise;
49 Revolutions de Paris, no. 167 (15-22 Sept. 1792),
50
Ibid., no. 168 (22-9 Sept. I792).
51 Archives
Ix, pp. 290-3.
parlementaires,

pp. 517-28.

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itpromisedtomakeprogrammes
forincreasedsocialequalitypractictheinstitution
ofproperty
able, butwithoutchallenging
at itsbase.52
So thedreamof ruralredistribution
was shelved;but notentirely
A futurememberoftheRobespierrist
Committee
ofPublic
forgotten.
in a book publishedin I793, was careful
Safety,Billaud-Varennes,
to denounce"agrarianlaws" as "a finechimera"onlyenvisagedby
knavesseekingthepopularfavour,but he thenwenton to demand
a decreeto restricttheamountof land anyonemightpossessin the
future,once a carefulsurveyhad been completed,and thedistributionof the sequesteredlands of the emigre
nobilityand the church
in sucha manneras "to reducethenumberofagricultural
labourers,
whoseexistencewillalwaysbe precariousand miserable".53
Another
memberof theCommitteeofPublic Safety,Saint-Just,
whilerejecting any attackon propetyrights,leftbehindnotes suggestingthe
restriction
of leased land to a maximumof 300 arpents.A decreein
such termswas actuallypresentedto the Conventionby Coupe de
l'Oise in October1793, thelimitenvisagedbeing300 or 400 arpents,
dependingon the qualityof the land, but the reportwas buried
procedurallyand no actiontaken.54
The Jacobinsdid make it easierforsmallpeasantsto buy church
propertyby dividingit into smallerlots, but thoughSaint-Just's
VentoseLaws of 1794 promisedto confiscatethe land of rich"suspects" forthe benefitof the virtuouspoor, the agrarianlaw in the
sense of a general redistribution
was never part of the Jacobin
programme.Babeufalone stroveto keep thenotionalive in a pamphlet published in the autumnof I794, but afterI795 even the
Babouvistsabandonedtheagrarianlaw fora thoroughgoing
communism.55In I796 Sylvain Marechal's "Manifestoof the Equals",
draftedfortheBabouvistConspiracyoftheEquals, madeevidentthe
new directionstowardswhichthesocialisttradition
was developing:
The agrarianlaw, or the divisionof the countryside,
was theunthinking
desireof
some unprincipledsoldiers,of some populationsmovedby instinctratherthanby
reason.We lean towardssomething
moresublimeand moreequitable,thecommon
good, or the communityof goods. No moreindividualownershipof land . . .56

The agrarianlaw was dead. When socialismrevivedin France in

the nineteenthcenturyits revivalwould be based on the memory
of Babouvist Communismor on the new doctrineof association,
52 The crisis
theDirectorysaw no reason
past,and theJacobinregimeoverthrown,
to continuethe compromise.Thus, ironically,a government
committeereportedin
the Year IV thatprogressivetaxationwas "the veritablegermof the agrarianlaw,
whichmustbe stampedoutat itsinception":I. T. Woloch,JacobinLegacy(Princeton,

I970), pp. I78-9.

53

Les elemensdu republicanisme

JacquesNicolas Billaud-Varennes,
(Paris, I793),

pp. I00-22.
54

Lefebvre,Questionsagrairesau tempsde la Terreur,

pp. 77-9.
55Rose, GracchusBabeuf,pp. 175-7,
189 ff.
56
des
saisies
dans
le
local
Copie
pieces
que Baboeufoccupoitlorsde son arrestation
(Paris, I796), p. 6i.

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THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND THE "AGRARIAN LAW"

129

and not on agrarianredistribution.

Broughtto trialbeforeLouis
Philippe'scourtsin December 1833, theBabouvistdiscipleCharles
"we do not relyhereon any of those
reaffirmed:
Teste indignantly
of
horrifying
promoters agrarianlaws and otherabsurditiesthat
people attributeso gratuitouslyto us".57 "Socialists are all in agree-

mentin havingno wishat all fortheagrarianlaw thatindividualizes

the soil and agriculture",Proudhonnotedin I847.58
I began by asking: how real was the threatof the agrarianlaw
Whatmustbe our conclusion?One thingthat
duringtherevolution?
is clear is thatdespitethe fearsof the propertiedclasses amongall
the protagonistsof the agrarianlaw thereis not a singlecase of a
demandforan immediate,violentseizureof landed propertyby an
insurgentpeasantry.There is no parallelin the FrenchRevolution
to the half-century
propaganda campaign of Narodniks, SocialRevolutionariesand Bolsheviksthatprecededthe peasantseizures
of land in Russia in 19I7.
In the FrenchRevolutionthe moderatessoughtmerelyto put a
maximum,and usuallya generousone, on propertyholdings,and
sometimesto use the nationalizedpropertyof the churchand the
emigresto createnew holdingsforthelandless.Even the extremists
who, like Cournand,looked forwardto a completeredistribution
wanted thingsdone graduallyand peacefully,generallythrough
death dutiesor othersuccessionlegislation.
movementby thepeasants
Nor was thereanymilitantgrass-roots
for the occupationand divisionof landlord'sland to match the
peasants'successfulwaragainstfeudaldues and exactions.Certainly
peasantswereenthusiasticbuyersof the lands of thechurchand of
emigrenobles that had been formallyconfiscatedby revolutionary
governments.In some places therewas informal,forcibleseizure
and redivisionofcommonlandsand forests,particularly
wherethese
had been recentlyappropriatedby the seigneur;one such episode
was even describedin 1790 as the impositionof the agrarianlaw.59
But as faras a moreradicalredistribution
went,therewas a canny
57 M. R. M. de VoyerD'Argenson,Discoursetopinions,
2 vols. (Paris, 1845-6),ii,
p. 382. Who were these "horrifying
promoters"?I can findno evidenceof their
movementforruralredistribution
existence,or of any significant
amongthe French
peasantryin theearlynineteenth
century- thisdespitethevigourand theoccasional
violencewithwhichthepeasantsprosecutedthedefenceoftheirforestand commoning
rights.
58 P. Haustmann(ed.), Carnetsde P.-J. Proudhon,
4 vols. (Paris, 1961-74), ii, p.
305.

59 For an accountofthecureof Issyl'Eveque, nearAutun,leadinghis parishioners

to "enact the agrarianlaw" in thismannerin October1789, see Soboul, Comprendre
la Revolution,pp. I87-8. For peasantseizuresof alienatedcommonsin Burgundy,
see R. Foster,The House ofSaulx-Tavanes(Baltimore,1971), pp. 156-7;and forthe
same in Picardy,see R. B. Rose, GracchusBabeuf,pp. 90-2; R. B. Rose, "Jacquerie
at Davenescourtin I79I", TasmanianHist. Res. Assoc.Papers and Proc., xx (Mar.

1973), PP. 8-20, I7.

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NUMBER I03

adjustmentof demandsto thepossibilities,to a moderaterestriction

of theaccumulationof leaseholdfarms,so thatmorepeasantscould
aspireto thereasonablecomfortenjoyedby themostsuccessful.As
the self-proclaimed
sansculottesof Haussez near Neufchatelput it
of1794: "An agrarian
in a petitionto theConventionat thebeginning
law would be unjustand impolitic,but a law to forbida peasantto
occupy two leaseholdfarmswould be a beneficiallaw".60
The peasantscontinuedto hope thatsome law of thiskindmight
come out of the JacobinConvention,and thathope contributedto
the popular resurgencethat broughtthe Jacobinsto power and
enabledJacobinpowerto survivefora year.Therewerein factsome
Jacobins,and quite highlyplaced ones, with sympathyfor the
peasants'demands,but the Jacobinoverthrowin July1794 finally
put an end to the last practicalpossibilityof theirbeingrealized.
of Tasmania
University

60

Lefebvre,Questionsagrairesau tempsde la Terreur,

pp.

R. B. Rose

211, 217.

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