A poor gentleman of the province of Hagenau, cultivated his small estate, and St. Ragonda, or Radegonda, was the patron of his parish.
Now it happened, on the feast of St. Ragonda, that it was necessary to do something to this poor gentleman’s field, without which great loss would be incurred1. The master, with all his family, after having devoutly2 assisted at mass, went to cultivate his land, on which depended the subsistence of his family, while the rector and the other parishioners went to tipple3 as usual.
The rector, while enjoying his glass, was informed of the enormous offence committed in his parish by this profane4 laborer5, and went, burning with wine and anger, to seek the cultivator. “Sir, you are very insolent7 and very impious to dare to cultivate your field, instead of going to the tavern8 like other people.” “I agree, sir,” replied the gentleman, “that it is necessary to drink to the honor of the saint; but it is also necessary to eat, and my family would die of hunger if I did not labor6.” “Drink and die, then,” said the vicar. “In what law, in what book is it so written?” said the laborer. “In Ovid,” replied the vicar. “I think you are mistaken,” said the gentleman; “in what part of Ovid have you read that I should go to the tavern rather than cultivate my field on St. Ragonda’s day?”
It should be remarked that both the gentleman and the pastor9 were well educated men. “Read the metamorphoses of the daughters of Minyas,” said the vicar. “I have read it,” replied the other, “and I maintain that they have no relation to my plough.” “How, impious man! do you not remember that the daughters of Minyas were changed into bats for having spun10 on a feast day?” “The case is very different,” replied the gentleman, “these ladies had not rendered any homage11 to Bacchus. I have been at the mass of St. Ragonda, you can have nothing to say to me; you cannot change me into a bat.” “I will do worse,” said the priest, “I will fine you.” He did so. The poor gentleman was ruined: he quitted the country with his family — went into a strange one — became a Lutheran — and his ground remained uncultivated for several years.
This affair was related to a magistrate12 of good sense and much piety13. These are the reflections which he made upon it:
“They were no doubt innkeepers,” said he, “that invented this prodigious14 number of feasts; the religion of peasants and artisans consists in getting tipsy on the day of a saint, whom they only know by this kind of worship. It is on these days of idleness and debauchery that all crimes are committed; it is these feasts which fill the prisons, and which support the police officers, registers, lieutenants15 of police, and hangmen; the only excuse for feast-days among us. From this cause Catholic countries are scarcely cultivated at all; whilst heretics, by daily cultivating their lands, produce abundant crops.”
It is all very well that the shoemakers should go in the morning to mass on St. Crispin’s day, because crepido signifies the upper leather of a shoe; that the brush-makers should honor St. Barbara their patron; that those who have weak eyes should hear the mass of St. Clara: that St. — should be celebrated16 in many provinces; but after having paid their devoirs to the saints they should become serviceable to men, they should go from the altar to the plough; it is the excess of barbarity, and insupportable slavery, to consecrate18 our days to idleness and vice17. Priests, command, if it be necessary that the saints Roche, Eustace, and Fiacre, be prayed to in the morning; but, magistrates19, order your fields to be cultivated as usual. It is labor that is necessary; the greater the industry the more the day is sanctified.
§ II.
Letter from a Weaver20 of Lyons to the Gentlemen of the Commission established at Paris, for the Reformation of Religious Orders, printed in the public papers in 1768.
Gentlemen:
“I am a silk-weaver, and have worked at Lyons for nineteen years. My wages have increased insensibly; at present I get thirty-five sous per day. My wife, who makes lace, would get fifteen more, if it were possible for her to devote her time to it; but as the cares of the house, illness, or other things, continually hinder her, I reduce her profit to ten sous, which makes forty-five sous daily. If from the year we deduct21 eighty-two Sundays, or holidays, we shall have two hundred and eighty-four profitable days, which at forty-five sous make six hundred and thirty-nine livres. That is my revenue; the following are my expenses:
“I have eight living children, and my wife is on the point of being confined with the eleventh; for I have lost two. I have been married fifteen years: so that I annually22 reckon twenty-four livres for the expenses of her confinements23 and baptisms, one hundred and eight livres for two nurses, having generally two children out at nurse, and sometimes even three. I pay fifty-seven livres rent and fourteen taxes.
“My income is then reduced to four hundred and thirty-six livres, or twenty-five sous three deniers a day, with which I have to clothe and furnish my family, buy wood and candles, and support my wife and six children.
“I look forward to holidays with dismay. I confess that I often almost curse their institution. They could only have been instituted by usurers and innkeepers.
“My father made me study hard in my youth, and wished me to become a monk24, showing me in that state a sure asylum25 against want; but I always thought that every man owes his tribute to society, and that monks26 are useless drones who live upon the labor of the bees. Notwithstanding, I acknowledge that when I see John C — with whom I studied, and who was the most idle boy in the college, possessing the first place among the prémontrés, I cannot help regretting that I did not listen to my father’s advice.
“This is the third holiday in Christmas, I have pawned27 the little furniture I had, I am in a week’s debt with my tradesman, and I want bread — how are we to get over the fourth? This is not all; I have the prospect28 of four more next week. Great God! Eight holidays in ten days; you cannot have commanded it!
“One year I hoped that rents would diminish by the suppression of one of the monasteries29 of the Capuchins and Cordeliers. What useless houses in the centre of Lyons are those of the Jacobins, nuns30 of St. Peter, etc. Why not establish them in the suburbs if they are thought necessary? How many more useful inhabitants would supply their places!
“All these reflections, gentlemen, have induced me to address myself to you who have been chosen by the king for the task of rectifying31 abuses. I am not the only one who thinks thus. How many laborers32 in Lyons and other places, how many laborers in the kingdom are reduced to the same extremities33 as myself? It is evident that every holiday costs the state several millions (livres). These considerations will lead you to take more to heart the interests of the people, which are rather too little attended to.
“I have the honor to be, etc.,
“Bocen.”
This request, which was really presented, will not be misplaced in a work like the present.
§ III.
The feast given to the Roman people by Julius C?sar and the emperors who succeeded him are well known. The feast of twenty-two thousand tables served by twenty-two thousand purveyors; the naval34 fights on artificial lakes, etc., have not, however, been imitated by the Herulian, Lombard, and Frankish chieftains, who would have their festivity equally celebrated.
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incurred
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| [医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式 | |
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devoutly
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| adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地 | |
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tipple
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| n.常喝的酒；v.不断喝，饮烈酒 | |
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profane
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| adj.亵神的，亵渎的；vt.亵渎，玷污 | |
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laborer
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| n.劳动者，劳工 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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magistrate
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| n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官 | |
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piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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lieutenants
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| n.陆军中尉( lieutenant的名词复数 )；副职官员；空军；仅低于…官阶的官员 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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consecrate
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| v.使圣化，奉…为神圣；尊崇；奉献 | |
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magistrates
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| 地方法官，治安官( magistrate的名词复数 ) | |
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weaver
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| n.织布工；编织者 | |
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deduct
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| vt.扣除，减去 | |
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annually
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| adv.一年一次，每年 | |
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confinements
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| 限制，被监禁( confinement的名词复数 )； 分娩 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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monks
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| n.修道士，僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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pawned
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| v.典当，抵押( pawn的过去式和过去分词 )；以（某事物）担保 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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monasteries
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| 修道院( monastery的名词复数 ) | |
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nuns
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| n.（通常指基督教的）修女， （佛教的）尼姑( nun的名词复数 ) | |
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rectifying
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| 改正，矫正( rectify的现在分词 )； 精馏； 蒸流； 整流 | |
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laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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extremities
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| n.端点( extremity的名词复数 )；尽头；手和足；极窘迫的境地 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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