第38章

These are vain and chimerical， they are not specified" because none of them reside there， and， if they are paid， it is to secure their support at the court. "Thus the Comte de Caraman， who has more than 600，000 livres income as proprietor of the Languedoc canal， receives 30，000 livres every three years， without legitimate cause， and independently of frequent and ample gifts which the province awards to him for repairs on his canal." - The province likewise gives to the commandant， Comte de Périgord， a gratuity of 12，000 livres in addition to his salary， and to his wife another gratuity of 12，000 livres on her honoring the states for the first time with her presence. It again pays， for the same commandant， forty guards， "of which twenty-four only serve during his short appearance at the Assembly，" and who， with their captain， annually cost 15，000 livres. It pays likewise for the Governor from eighty to one hundred guards， " who each receive 300or 400 livres， besides many exemptions， and who are never on service， since the Governor is a non-resident." The expense of these lazy subalterns is about 24，000 livres， besides 5，000 to 6，000 for their captain， to which must be added 7，500 for gubernatorial secretaries， besides 60，000 livres salaries， and untold profits for the Governor himself. I find everywhere secondary idlers swarming in the shadow of idlers in chief，[11] and deriving their vigor from the public purse which is the common nurse. All these people parade and drink and eat copiously， in grand style； it is their principal service， and they attend to it conscientiously. The sessions of the Assembly are junketings of six weeks' duration， in which the intendant expends 25，000 livres in dinners and receptions.[12]

Equally lucrative and useless are the court offices[13]， so many domestic sinecures， the profits and accessories of which largely exceed the emoluments. I find in the printed register 295 cooks， without counting the table-waiters of the king and his people， while "the head butler obtains 84，000 livres a year in billets and supplies，" without counting his salary and the "grand liveries" which he receives in money. The head chambermaids to the queen， inscribed in the Almanac for 150 livres and paid 12，000 francs， make in reality 50，000 francs by the sale of the candles lighted during the day.