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Article SANTERRE. * Page 1 of 15 →
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Santerre. *
SANTERRE . *
CHAPTER I . SANTEKRE is to the ancient province of Picardy , of which it forms a part , what the Abruzzi and Calabria are to Italy — - a genuine country of brigands .
If this assertion be not at present strictly true , it was so at least thirty years ago . I can state as a fact to having seen in one year at the place of capital punishment , in the city of Amiens , ten or twelve criminals executed , all of whom were natives of this formidable country ; to which it is also right to add , that the least guilty amongst them were convicted of the crime of incendiarism , to which the greater part added that of assassination .
We deceive ourselves , however , if , after the comparison which I have drawn between this strange country and those provinces of Italy , of which I have just spoken , we suppose Santerre to be surrounded by mountains , crossed by deep ravines , and covered with forests , —in one word , rich in those undulating features that are so favourable to those who gain
their living on the highway . We should be also again in error if we supposed that the Santerreis were clothed in the costume or carried the arms of the Calabrian brigands , who live in the proud indifference of their terrible calling , singing of love and carnage in their nightly orgies after a victory .
So far from this being the case , Santerre is a land of plains , where wheat is only grown , whence it has the appellation of the granary of Picardy . Its only rocks are enormous grindstones , its caverns vast barns , destined to receive the wiieat sheaves when the time of harvest has arrived . Its inhabitants are simple peasantswho have nothing about them
, , either of a picturesque or martial character , to redeem the insignificant physiognomy which is below their mean cotton caps , the common head-dress , and the blouse of coarse brown cloth , which serves in all weathers to hide their rags beneath ; nevertheless , it is in the heart of this country and by such people that nine-tenths of those crimes are committed , which
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Santerre. *
SANTERRE . *
CHAPTER I . SANTEKRE is to the ancient province of Picardy , of which it forms a part , what the Abruzzi and Calabria are to Italy — - a genuine country of brigands .
If this assertion be not at present strictly true , it was so at least thirty years ago . I can state as a fact to having seen in one year at the place of capital punishment , in the city of Amiens , ten or twelve criminals executed , all of whom were natives of this formidable country ; to which it is also right to add , that the least guilty amongst them were convicted of the crime of incendiarism , to which the greater part added that of assassination .
We deceive ourselves , however , if , after the comparison which I have drawn between this strange country and those provinces of Italy , of which I have just spoken , we suppose Santerre to be surrounded by mountains , crossed by deep ravines , and covered with forests , —in one word , rich in those undulating features that are so favourable to those who gain
their living on the highway . We should be also again in error if we supposed that the Santerreis were clothed in the costume or carried the arms of the Calabrian brigands , who live in the proud indifference of their terrible calling , singing of love and carnage in their nightly orgies after a victory .
So far from this being the case , Santerre is a land of plains , where wheat is only grown , whence it has the appellation of the granary of Picardy . Its only rocks are enormous grindstones , its caverns vast barns , destined to receive the wiieat sheaves when the time of harvest has arrived . Its inhabitants are simple peasantswho have nothing about them
, , either of a picturesque or martial character , to redeem the insignificant physiognomy which is below their mean cotton caps , the common head-dress , and the blouse of coarse brown cloth , which serves in all weathers to hide their rags beneath ; nevertheless , it is in the heart of this country and by such people that nine-tenths of those crimes are committed , which