Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/443

 The French Revolution 405 violence; on all sides chateaux are being burned, con- vents destroyed, and farms abandoned to pillage. The taxes, the feudal dues, all are extinct ; the laws are with- out force, and the magistrates without authority." With the hope of pacifying and encouraging the people, the Assembly, in a fervor of enthusiasm and excitement, straightway abolished many of the ancient abuses. The document here given is the revised decree, completed a week later. Article I. The National Assembly hereby completely abolishes the feudal system. It decrees that, among the existing rights and dues, both feudal and censuel, 1 all those originating in or representing real or personal serfdom shall be abolished without indemnification. All other dues are declared redeemable, the terms and mode of redemption to be fixed by the National Assembly. Those of the said dues which are not extinguished by this decree shall continue to be collected until indemnification shall take place. II. The exclusive right to maintain pigeon houses and dovecotes is abolished. The pigeons shall be confined dur- ing the seasons fixed by the community. During such periods they shall be looked upon as game, and every one shall have the right to kill them upon his own land. III. The exclusive right to hunt and to maintain un- inclosed warrens is likewise abolished, and every landowner shall have the right to kill, or to have destroyed on his own land, all kinds of game, observing, however, such police regulations as may be established with a view to the safety of the public. All hunting capitaineries? including the royal forests, and all hunting rights under whatever denomination, are likewise abolished. Provision shall be made, however, in a manner compatible with the regard due to property and liberty, for maintaining the personal pleasures of the king. 1 This refers to the cens, a perpetual due similar to the payments made by English copyholders. 2 See above, p. 365. 397. Decree abolishing the feudal system. Extinction of all hunting rights.