already bread was exorbitantly dear, and where already the number of unemployed and paupers bore a dangerous proportion to the population of the city. The trouble caused by the scarcity of food was stimulated by another motive second to it only in importance--the feverish excitement of political hope. Depressed and ignorant as they were, the labouring class in France had, nevertheless, grasped the idea that in some vague way the meeting of the States-General marked an era in their lives, and was somehow or other destined to ease the intolerable burden of their lot. With them political freedom and constitutional reform took the immediate shape of food, work, and relief from feudalism and taxation. Once the idea had been implanted in them, their restless anticipations rapidly increased. Every week of delay rendered them less manageable. Every check experienced by the Assembly was a spur to their impatience. Every step taken by the Government to assert its authority or to overawe the reformers filled them with indignation, suspicion and panic. In the poorer districts of Paris, and especially in the gardens of the Palais Royal--the headquarters of Bohemians, idlers, mischief-makers, crowds--the political excitement of the time found expression in perpetual demonstrations, not unmixed with rioting and outbreaks. The regular authorities of the city, unused to the spectacle, looked on, unable to control it. The police force of Paris under the Ancien Régime was so small as to be practically useless. The garrison, formed of the Gardes Françaises, who were responsible for the maintenance of order, sympathised with the citizens, who spared no hospitality or flatteries to gain them, and finally, mutinying against their officers, went over to the popular side. The other regiments in the neighbourhood showed a marked inclination to follow the example of the Gardes Françaises. The Government, deserted by its own agents, drew back; and the spirit of disorder, produced by the desire for food and the desire for freedom, obtained the mastery of Paris, and took command of the Revolution too.