Free The Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo

Road. In addition, Guernsey dedicated to its general a tall column standing above the sea that can be seen from the Casquets, while Jersey presented its general with a cromlech. It originally stood in St. Helier, on the hill now occupied by Fort Regent. General Don accepted the cromlech, had it carted, block by block, down to the shore and loaded onto a frigate, and carried it off. This monument was the marvel of the Channel Islands: it was the only round cromlech on the islands; it had seen the Cimmerians, who remembered Tubal Cain, just as the Eskimos remember Frobisher 52 ; it had seen the Celts, whose brain, compared with the brain of the present day, was in the proportion of thirteen to eighteen; it had seen those strange timber towers (
donjons
) whose carcasses are found in sepulchral mounds, and make one hesitate between Du Cange’s etymology, deriving the term from
domgio,
and Barleycourt’s, deriving it from
domijunctae;
it had seen clubs made from flint and the axes of the druids; it had seen the great wickerwork figure of Teutatès; 53 it existed before the Roman wall; it contained four thousand years of history. At night sailors had seen from afar in the moonlight this huge crown of standing stones on the high cliffs of Jersey: now it is a pile of stones in some corner of Yorkshire.

XVIII
    COMPATIBILITY OF EXTREMES
    The right of primogeniture exists; the tithe exists; the parish exists; the seigneur exists, both the seigneur of a fief and the seigneur of a manor; crying
haro
exists, as witness “The case of crying
haro
between Nicolle, esquire, and Godfrey, seigneur of Mélèches, was heard by the justices, after the court had been opened by the customary prayer” (Jersey, 1864). The
livre tournois
exists; seisin and disseisin exist; the right of forfeiture exists; feudal tenure exists; the redemption of family property exists; the past exists. There is the style of
messire.
There are the bailiff, the seneschal,
centeniers, vingteniers,
and
douzeniers.
There are the vingtaine at St. Savior’s and the cueillette at St. Ouen’s. 54 Every year there is the “constables’ ride” to survey the state of the roads. It is headed by the viscount, 55 “bearing in his hand the royal staff.” There is the canonical hour, before noon. Christmas, Easter, Midsummer, and Michaelmas are the legal quarter days. Property is not sold, it is granted on lease. A dialogue like this may be heard in court: “Provost, is this the day, the place, and the hour at which the pleadings of the court of the fief and seigneurie have been published?”—“Yes.”—“Amen.”— “Amen.”
    The case of “the villager who denies that his holding is in the enclaves” is provided for.
    There are “casualties, treasure troves, marriages, etc., from which the seigneur may profit.”
    There is “the seigneur’s entitlement as guardian until a proper party presents himself.” There are adjournment and act of vassalage, record and double record; there are the court of chief pleas, enfoeffments, acts of seisin, allodial tenure, and rights of regality. All very medieval, you may say. No: this is true liberty. Come here; live; exist. Go where you will, do what you will, be what you will. No one has the right to know your name. If you have a God of your own, preach his faith. If you have a flag of your own, fly it. Where? In the street. It is white: very well. It is blue: all right. It is red: red is a color like any other. Do you want to denounce the government? Stand on a boundary stone and say whatever you want. Do you want to form an association? By all means. Of how many members? As many as you want. What limit is there? None. Do you want to hold a meeting? Carry on. Where? In the public square. Suppose I want to attack royalty? That is no concern of ours. What if I want to put up a poster?
There
are the walls. You may think, speak, write,