"In the wheat districts around us," says a letter from one of the
Burgundy towns, "we cannot rely on being able to make free
purchases. Special regulations, supported by the civic guard,
prevent grain from being sent out, and put a stop to its
circulation. The adjacent markets are of no use to us. Not a sack
of grain has been brought into our market for about eight months."

At Troyes, bread costs four sous per pound, at Bar-sur-Aube, and in
the vicinity, four and a half sous per pound. The artisan who is
out of work now earns twelve sous a day at the relief works, and, on
going into the country, he sees that the grain crop is good. What
conclusion can he come to but that the dearth is due to the
monopolists, and that, if he should die of hunger, it would be
because those scoundrels have starved him? -- By virtue of this
reasoning whoever has to do with these provisions, whether
proprietor, farmer, merchant or administrator, all are considered
traitors. It is plain that there is a plot against the people: the
government, the Queen, the clergy, the nobles are all parties to it;
and likewise the magistrates and the wealthy amongst the bourgeoisie
and the rich. A rumor is current in the Ile-de-France that sacks of
flour are thrown into the Seine, and that the cavalry horses are
purposely made to eat unripe wheat in stalk. In Brittany, it is
maintained that grain is exported and stored up abroad. In
Touraine, it is certain that this or that wholesale dealer allows it
to sprout in his granaries rather than sell it. At Troyes, a story
prevails that another has poisoned his flour with alum and arsenic,
commissioned to do so by the bakers. -- Conceive the effect of
suspicions like these upon a suffering multitude! A wave of hatred
ascends from the empty stomach to the morbid brain. The people are