previous forty-five thousand millions of _assignats_: the nation in
general, rich and poor alike, was plunged into financial ruin from one
end to the other.

On the prices charged for articles of ordinary use light is thrown by
extracts from a table published in 1795, reduced to American coinage.

1790 1795
For a bushel of flour 40 cents 45 dollars
For a bushel of oats 18 cents 10 dollars
For a cartload of wood 4 dollars 500 dollars
For a bushel of coal 7 cents 2 dollars
For a pound of sugar 18 cents 12 1/2 dollars
For a pound of soap 18 cents 8 dollars
For a pound of candles 18 cents 8 dollars
For one cabbage 8 cents 5 1/2 dollars
For a pair of shoes 1 dollar 40 dollars
For twenty-five eggs 24 cents 5 dollars

But these prices about the middle of 1795 were moderate compared with
those which were reached before the close of that year and during the
year following. Perfectly authentic examples were such as the
following:

A pound of bread 9 dollars
A bushel of potatoes 40 dollars
A pound of candles 40 dollars
A cartload of wood 250 dollars

So much for the poorer people. Typical of those esteemed wealthy may