next crop comes round," and force the Consuls to put bread at two
sous the pound, and to increase the day's wages four sous. --
Indeed this is now the regular thing; it is not the people who obey
the authorities, but the authorities who obey the people. Consuls,
sheriffs, mayors, municipal officers, town-clerks, become confused
and hesitating in the face of this huge clamor; they feel that they
are likely to be trodden under foot or thrown out of the windows.
Others, with more firmness, being aware that a riotous crowd is mad,
and having scruples to spill blood; yield for the time being, hoping
that at the next market-day there will be more soldiers and better
precautions taken. At Amiens, "after a very violent outbreak,"[18]
they decide to take the wheat belonging to the Jacobin monks, and,
protected by the troops, to sell it to the people at a third below
its value. At Nantes, where the town hall is attacked, they are
forced to lower the price of bread one sou per pound. At Angoulême,
to avoid a recourse to arms, they request the Comte d'Artois to
renounce his dues on flour for two months, reduce the price of
bread, and compensate the bakers. At Cette they are so maltreated
they let everything take its course; the people sack their dwellings
and get the upper hand; they announce by sound of trumpet that all
their demands are granted. On other occasions, the mob dispenses
with their services and acts for itself. If there happens to be no
grain on the market-place, the people go after it wherever they can
find it -- to proprietors and farmers who are unable to bring it for
fear of pillage; to convents, which by royal edict are obliged
always to have one year's crop in store; to granaries where the
Government keeps its supplies; and to convoys which are dispatched
by the intendants to the relief of famished towns. Each for himself
-- so much the worse for his neighbor. The inhabitants of Fougères
beat and drive out those who come from Ernée to buy in their market;