A pitiable monarch, whose recognized sovereignty leaves him more
miserable than he was before! Bread is always scarce, and before the
baker's doors the row of waiting people does not diminish. In vain
Bailly passes his nights with the committee on supplies; they are always
in a state of terrible anxiety. Every morning for two months there is
only one or two days' supply of flour, and often, in the evening, there
is not enough for the following morning.[1411] The life of the capital
depends on a convoy which is ten, fifteen, twenty leagues off; and which
may never arrive: one convoy of twenty carts is pillaged on the 18th of
July, on the Rouen road; another, on the 4th of August, in the vicinity
of Louviers. Were it not for Salis' Swiss regiment, which, from the 14th
of July to the end of September, marches day and night as an escort,
not a boat-load of grain would reach Paris from Rouen.[1412]--The
commissaries charged with making purchases or with supervising the
expeditions are in danger of their lives. Those who are sent to
provinces are seized, and a column of four hundred men with cannon has
to be dispatched to deliver them. The one who is sent to Rouen learns
that he will be hung if he dares to enter the place. At Mantes a mob
surrounds his cabriolet, the people regarding whoever comes there for
the purpose of carrying away grain as a public pest; he escapes with
difficulty out of a back door and returns on foot to Paris.--From the
very beginning, according to a universal rule, the fear of a short
supply helps to augment the famine. Every one lays in a stock for
several days; on one occasion sixteen loaves of four pounds each are
found in an old woman's garret. The bakings, consequently, which are
estimated according to the quantity needed for a single day, become
inadequate, and the last of those who wait at the bakers' shops for
bread return home empty-handed.--On the other hand the appropriations
made by the city and the State to diminish the price of bread simply
serve to lengthen the rows of those who wait for it; the countrymen
flock in thither, and return home loaded to their villages. At
Saint-Denis, bread having been reduced to two sous the pound, none
is left for the inhabitants. To this constant anxiety add that of
unemployment. Not only is there no certainty of there being bread at the
bakers' during the coming week, but many know that they will not have
money in the coming week with which to buy bread. Now that security has
disappeared and the rights of property are shaken, work is wanting. The
rich, deprived of their feudal dues, and, in addition thereto of their
rents, have reduced their expenditure; many of them, threatened by the
committee of investigation, exposed to domiciliary visits, and liable to
be informed against by their servants, have emigrated. In the month of
September M. Necker laments the delivery of six thousand passports in
fifteen days to the wealthiest inhabitants. In the month of October
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account