[29] Popular Government, Essay III.
[30] An English critic once said that the decimal monetary system had not yet been accepted by the French people because they counted in sous. They do not invariably count in sous, but they often do, and that without being unfaithful to the decimal principle, as may be seen by the following table:—
| The five-franc piece | = | 100 | sous. |
| The half-franc piece | = | 10 | sous. |
| The one-sou piece | = | 1 | sou. |
[31] The word “conservative” is not used in this place with reference to the Tory party alone. There is much conservative sentiment in other parties.
[32] Even if the English did ultimately adopt the French weights and measures, without the coinage, they would not enjoy the full convenience of those systems, which consists in great part in their relation to the coinage. For example, in English land measure (what is called “square measure”) you have 160 poles to the acre. A farmer takes an acre at thirty-seven shillings, how much is that per pole? I do not know; I must make an elaborate calculation to find it out. A French farmer takes a hectare at sixty-seven francs, how much is that per are? Owing to the intentional relation between measures and money, the answer comes instantaneously, without calculation, sixty-seven centimes.
[33] M. de Freycinet, at the time when he was Foreign Minister in France, expressed a feeling of regret, that owing to the instability of English cabinets, it was not easy to carry on protracted negotiations.—Speech of the 27th of November 1886.
[34] Memoirs of Mrs. Jameson, by her niece Gerardine Macpherson, First Edition, p. 154.
[35] This curé was an acquaintance of mine. His sister-in-law told me the amount of the subscription as an example of clerical influence.
[36] Here is a case well known to me. The income of the commune is 3000 francs, that of the curé about 1000. To offer the free disposal of the curé’s income to the municipal council is to offer a great temptation.