The Blacksmith's Hammer, or The Peasant Code A Tale of the Grand Monarch   By: Eugène Sue (1804-1857)

THE FULL SERIES OF

The Mysteries of the People

:: OR ::

History of a Proletarian Family Across the Ages

By EUGENE SUE

Consisting of the Following Works:

THE GOLD SICKLE; or, Hena the Virgin of the Isle of Sen . THE BRASS BELL; or, The Chariot of Death . THE IRON COLLAR; or, Faustina and Syomara . THE SILVER CROSS; or, The Carpenter of Nazareth . THE CASQUE'S LARK; or, Victoria, the Mother of the Camps . THE PONIARD'S HILT; or, Karadeucq and Ronan . THE BRANDING NEEDLE; or, The Monastery of Charolles . THE ABBATIAL CROSIER; or, Bonaik and Septimine . THE CARLOVINGIAN COINS; or, The Daughters of Charlemagne. THE IRON ARROW HEAD; or, The Buckler Maiden . THE INFANT'S SKULL; or, The End of the World . THE PILGRIM'S SHELL; or, Fergan the Quarryman . THE IRON PINCERS; or, Mylio and Karvel . THE IRON TREVET; or, Jocelyn the Champion . THE EXECUTIONER'S KNIFE; or, Joan of Arc . THE POCKET BIBLE; or, Christian the Printer . THE BLACKSMITH'S HAMMER; or, The Peasant Code . THE SWORD OF HONOR; or, The Foundation of the French Republic . THE GALLEY SLAVE'S RING; or, The Family Lebrenn .

Published Uniform With This Volume By THE NEW YORK LABOR NEWS CO. 28 CITY HALL PLACE NEW YORK CITY

THE BLACKSMITH'S HAMMER

: : OR : :

THE PEASANT CODE

A Tale of the Grand Monarch

By EUGENE SUE

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL FRENCH By DANIEL DE LEON NEW YORK LABOR NEWS COMPANY. 1910

INDEX

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE v

INTRODUCTION 1

PART I. HOLLAND.

CHAPTER

I. THE ST. ELOI 5

II. BERTHA OF PLOUERNEL 11

III. THE HUGUENOT COLONEL 25

IV. THE LOST LETTER 33

V. JOHN DE WITT 54

VI. CORNELIUS DE WITT 79

VII. MOB VERDICT 91

VIII. THE FLIGHT 103

PART II. BRITTANY.

I. NOMINOE 113

II. A BRETON WEDDING 122

III. THE RED COATS 140

IV. DESERTED! 155

V. THE MYSTERY AT PLOUERNEL 164

VI. BERTHA AND NOMINOE 190

VII. EZ LIBR 229

VIII. THE MANOR OF PLOUERNEL 251

IX. THE PEASANTS' DEFEAT 258

X. UNITED 265

EPILOGUE 282

FOOTNOTES

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

Bulwer Lytton observes of fiction that, when aspiring at something higher than mere romance, it does not pervert, but elucidates the facts of the times in which the scene is placed; hence, that fiction serves to illustrate those truths which history is too often compelled to leave to the tale teller, the dramatist and the poet. In this story, The Blacksmith's Hammer; or, The Peasant Code the seventeenth of the charming series of Eugene Sue's historic novels, The Mysteries of the People; or, History of a Proletarian Family Across the Ages the author reaches a height in which are combined all the elements that Bulwer Lytton distributes among history, tale, drama and poetry.

The history is clean cut; the tale fascinates; its dramatic presentation is matchless; last, not least, the poetic note is lyric. As historian, as tale teller, as dramatist and as a poet the author excels himself in this narrative, that serves at once as a sequel of the age described in the previous story, The Pocket Bible; or, Christian the Printer , and as prelude to the great epopee of the next story that deals with the French Revolution.

DANIEL DE LEON.

New York, March, 1910.

INTRODUCTION.