the origins of contemporary france-2-第8章
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Alsace; September 8th ibid。 F7; 3227。 Letter of the intendant;
Caze de la Bove; June 16th ; ibid。 H。 1453。 Letter of Terray;
intendant of Lyons; July 4th; of the prévot des échevins; July 5th
and 7th。
'27' (A tax on all goods entering a town。 SR。)
'28' 〃Archives Nationales;〃 H。 1453。 Letter of the mayor and
councils of Agde; April 21st; of M。 de Perigord; April 19th; May
5th。
'29' 〃Archives Nationales;〃 H。 1453。 Letters of M。 de Caraman;
March 23rd; 26th 27th 28th; of the seneschal Missiessy; March 24th;
of the mayor of Hyères; March 25th; etc。; ibid。 H。 1274; of M。 de
Montmayran; April 2nd; of M。 de Caraman; March 18th ; April 12th; of
the intendant; M。 de la Tour; April 2nd; of the procureur…géneral;
M。 d'Antheman; April 17th; and the report of June 15th; of the
municipal authorities of Toulon; April 11th; of the sub…delegate of
Manosque; March 14th; of M。 de Saint…Tropez; March 21st。 … Minutes
of the meeting; signed by 119 witnesses; of the insurrection at Aix;
March 5th; etc。
'30' An uprising of the peasants。 The term is used to indicate a
country mob in contradistinction to a city or town mob。…Tr。
'31' 〃Archives Nationales;〃 H。1274。 Letter of M。 de la Tour; April
2nd (with a detailed memorandum and depositions)。
'32' 〃Archives Nationales;〃 H。 1274。 Letter of M。 de Caraman;
April 22nd: …〃One real benefit results from this misfortune。 。 。
The well…to…do class is brought to sustain that which exceeded the
strength of the poor daily laborers。 We see the nobles and people
in good circumstances a little more attentive to the poor peasants:
they are now habituated to speaking to them with more gentleness。〃
M。 de Caraman was wounded; as well as his Son; at Aix; and if the
Soldiery; who were stoned; at length fired on the crowd; he did not
give the order。 Ibid; letter of M。 d'Anthéman; April 17th; of M。
de Barentin; June 11th。
CHAPTER II。 PARIS UP TO THE 14TH OF JULY。
I。
Mob recruits in the vicinity。… Entry of vagabonds。 … The number of
paupers。
INDEED it is in the center that the convulsive shocks are strongest。
Nothing is lacking to aggravate the insurrection neither the
liveliest provocation to stimulate it; nor the most numerous bands
to carry it out。 The environs of Paris all furnish recruits for it;
nowhere are there so many miserable wretches; so many of the
famished; and so many rebellious beings。 Robberies of grain take
place everywhere at Orleans; at Cosne; at Rambouillet; at Jouy;
at Pont…Saint…Maxence; at Bray…sur…Seine; at Sens; at Nangis。'1'
Wheat flour is so scarce at Meudon; that every purchaser is ordered
to buy at the same time an equal quantity of barley。 At Viroflay;
thirty women; with a rear…guard of men; stop on the main road
vehicles; which they suppose to be loaded with grain。 At Montlhéry
stones and clubs disperse seven brigades of the police。 An immense
throng of eight thousand persons; women and men; provided with bags;
fall upon the grain exposed for sale。 They force the delivery to
them of wheat worth 40 francs at 24 francs; pillaging the half of it
and conveying it off without payment。 〃The constabulary is
disheartened;〃 writes the sub…delegate; 〃the determination of the
people is wonderful; I am frightened at what I have seen and heard。〃
After the 13th of July; 1788; the day of the hail…storm; despair
seized the peasantry; well disposed as the proprietors may have
been; it was impossible to assist them。 〃Not a workshop is
open;'2' the noblemen and the bourgeois; obliged to grant delays in
the payment of their incomes; can give no work。〃 Accordingly; 〃the
famished people are on the point of risking life for life;〃 and;
publicly and boldly; they seek food wherever it can be found。 At
Conflans…Saint…Honorine; Eragny; Neuville; Chenevières; at Cergy;
Pontoise; Ile…Adam; Presle; and Beaumont; men; women; and children;
the hole parish; range the country; set snares; and destroy the
burrows。 〃The rumor is current that the Government; informed of the
damage done by the game to cultivators; allows its destruction 。 。
。 and really the hares ravaged about a fifth of the crop。 At first
an arrest is made of nine of these poachers; but they are released;
〃taking circumstances into account。〃 Consequently; for two months;
there is a slaughter on the property of the Prince de Conti and of
the Ambassador Mercy d'Argenteau; in default of bread they eat
rabbits。 Along with the abuse of property they are led; by a
natural impulse; to attack property itself。 Near Saint…Denis the
woods belonging to the abbey are devastated。 〃The farmers of the
neighborhood carry away loads of wood; drawn by four and five
horses;〃 the inhabitants of the villages of Ville…Parisis; Tremblay;
Vert…Galant; Villepinte; sell it publicly; and threaten the wood…
rangers with a beating。 On the 15th of June the damage is already
estimated at 60;000 livres。 It makes little difference whether
the proprietor has been benevolent; like M。 de Talaru;'3' who had
supported the poor on his estate at Issy the preceding winter。 The
peasants destroy the dike which conducts water to his communal mill;
condemned by the parliament to restore it; they declare that not
only will they not obey。 Should M。 de Talaru try to rebuild it they
will return with three hundred armed men; and tear it away the
second time。
For those who are most compromised Paris is the nearest refuge。 For
the poorest and most exasperated; the door of nomadic life stands
wide open。 Bands rise up around the capital; just as in countries
where human society has not yet been formed; or has ceased to exist。
During the first two weeks of May'4' near Villejuif a band of five
or six hundred vagabonds strive to force Bicêtre and approach Saint…
Cloud。 They arrive from thirty; forty; and sixty leagues off; from
Champagne; from Lorraine; from the whole circuit of country
devastated by the hailstorm。 All hover around Paris and are there
engulfed as in a sewer; the unfortunate along with criminals; some
to find work; others to beg and to rove about under the injurious
prompting of hunger and the rumors of the public thoroughfares。
During the last days of April;'5' the clerks at the tollhouses note
the entrance of 〃a frightful number of poorly clad men of sinister
aspect。〃 During the first days of May a change in the appearance of
the crowd is remarked。 There mingle in it 〃a number of foreigners;
from all countries; most of them in rags; armed with big sticks; and
whose very aspect announces what is to be feared from them。〃
Already; before this final influx; the public sink is full to
overflowing。 Think of the extraordinary and rapid increase of
population in Paris; the multitude of artisans brought there by
recent demolition and constructions。 Think of all the craftsmen
whom the stagnation of manufactures; the augmentation of octrois;
the rigor of winter; and the dearness of bread have reduced to
extreme distress。 Remember that in 1786 〃two hundred thousand
persons are counted whose property; all told; has not the intrinsic
worth of fifty crowns。〃 Remember that; from time immemorial; these
have been at war with the city watchmen。 Remember that in 1789
there are twenty thousand poachers in the capital and that; to
provide them with work; it is found necessary to establish national
workshops。 Remember 〃that twelve thousand are kept uselessly
occupied digging on the hill of Montmartre; and paid twenty sous per
day。 Remember that the wharves and quays are covered with them;
that the H?tel…de…Ville is invested by them; and that; around the
palace; they seem to be a reproach to the inactivity of disarmed
justice。〃 Daily they grow bitter and excited around the doors of the
bakeries; where; kept waiting a long time; they are not sure of
obtaining bread。 You can imagine the fury and the force with which
they will storm any obstacle to