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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

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