Part 31 (1/2)

_Father_ At first they th they were involved in the common misery

_Son_ Hoas that possible?

_Father_ You see this ruin; it was a nificent house, surrounded by a fine park If Paris had kept on advancing, Master Pierre would have gotis noorth to hiot rid of co has disappeared; but co also disappears every day, and will keep on disappearing until Paris is an open field, and Master Pierre's woodland will be worth no more than an equal number of acres in the forest of Bondy Thus, a s its own punishment upon itself

_Son_ This does not seem very plain to me, but the decay of Paris is undeniable Is there, then, nothis unjust o?

_Father_ I will confide my secret to you I will remain at Paris for this purpose; I will call the people to my aid It depends on them whether they will replace the _octroi_ on its old basis, and disrafted on it, and has grown there like a parasite fungus

_Son_ You ought to succeed on the very first day

_Father_ No; on the contrary, the work is a difficult and laborious one Pierre, Paul and Jean understand one another perfectly They are ready to do anything rather than allow the entrance of wood, butter and meat into Paris They even have on their side the people, who clearly see the labor which these three protected branches of business give, who kno ives employment to, but who cannot obtain so clear an idea of the labor that would spring up in the free air of liberty

_Son_ If this is all that is needed, you will enlighten thee, one doubts at nothing If I wrote, the people would not read; for all their ti a wretched existence If I speak, the Aldermen will shutin their fatal error; political parties, which build their hopes on their passions, attempt to play upon their prejudices, rather than to dispel them I shall then have to deal with the powers that be--the people and the parties I see that a storm will burst on the head of the audacious person who dares to rise against an iniquity which is so firmly rooted in the country

_Son_ You will have justice and truth on your side

_Father_ And they will have force and calu have exhausted th

_Son_ Well, father, devote all that you have left to the service of the country Begin this work of emancipation, and leave toit

FOURTH TABLEAU

_The Agitation_

_Jacques Bonhomme_ Parisians, let us demand the reform of the _octroi_; let it be put back to what it was Let every citizen be FREE to buy wood, butter and ood to him

_The People_ Hurrah for LIBERTY!

_Pierre_ Parisians, do not allow yourselves to be seduced by these words Of what avail is the freedo, if you have not the ? Can Paris produce wood as cheaply as the forest of Bondy, or meat at as low price as Poitou, or butter as easily as Normandy? If you open the doors to these rival products, ill become of the wood cutters, pork dealers, and cattle drivers? They cannot do without protection

_The People_ Hurrah for PROTECTION!

_Jacques_ Protection! But do they protect you, workmen? Do not you compete with one another? Let the wood dealers then suffer coht to raise the price of their wood by law, unless they, also, by law, raise wages Do you not still love equality?

_The People_ Hurrah for EQUALITY!

_Pierre_ Do not listen to this factious fellow We have raised the price of wood, meat, and butter, it is true; but it is in order that we es to the workmen We are moved by charity

_The People_ Hurrah for CHARITY!

_Jacques_ Use the _octroi_, if you can, to raise wages, or do not use it to raise the price of commodities The Parisians do not ask for charity, but justice

_The People_ Hurrah for JUSTICE!