- " The armed population of Nantua， Saint-Claude， and Septmoncel，"says a dispatch，[12] "have again cut off provisions from the Gex region； there is no wheat coming there from any direction， all the roads being guarded. Without the aid of the government of Geneva， which is willing to lend to this region eight hundred Cuttings of wheat， we should either die of starvation or be compelled to take grain by force from the municipalities which keep it to themselves."Narbonne starves Toulon； the navigation of the Languedoc canal is intercepted； the people on its banks repulse two companies of soldiers， burn a large building， and want to destroy the canal itself." Boats are stopped， wagons are pillaged， bread is forcibly lowered in price， stones are thrown and guns discharged； the populace contend with the National Guard， peasants with townsmen， purchasers with dealers， artisans and laborers with farmers and land-owners， at Castelnaudary， Niort， Saint-Etienne， in Aisne， in Pas-de-Calais， and especially along the line stretching from Montbrison to Angers - that is to say， for almost the whole of the extent of the vast basin of the Loire， - such is the spectacle presented by the year 1790. - And yet the crop has not been a bad one. But there is no circulation of grain. Each petty center has formed a league for the monopoly of food； and hence the fasting of others and the convulsions of the entire body are the first effects of the unbridled freedom which the Constitution and circumstances have conferred on each local group.
"We are told to assemble， vote， and elect men that will attend to our business； let us attend to it ourselves. We have had enough of talk and hypocrisy. Bread at two sous， and let us go after wheat where it can be found！" Such is the reasoning of the peasantry， and， in Nivernais， Bourbonnais， Berri， and Touraine， electoral gatherings are the firebrands of the insurrections.[13] At Saint-Sauge， "the first work of the primary meeting is to oblige the municipal officers to fix the price of wheat under the penalty of being decapitated." At Saint-Géran the same course is taken with regard to bread， wheat， and meat； at Chatillon-en-Bayait it is done with all supplies， and always a third or a half under the market price， without mentioning other exactions. - They come by degrees to the drafting of a tariff for all the valuables they know， proclaiming the maximum price which an article may reach， and so establishing a complete code of rural and social economy. We see in the turbulent and spasmodic wording of this instrument their dispositions and sentiments， as in a mirror.[14] It is the program of villagers.
Its diverse articles， save local variations， must be executed， now one and now the other， according to the occasion， the need， and the time， and， above all， whatever concerns provisions. - The wish， as usual， is the father of the thought； the peasantry thinks that it is acting by authority： here， through a decree of the King and the National Assembly， there， by a commission directly entrusted to the Comte d'Estrées. Even before this， in the market-place of Saint-Amand， "a man jumped on a heap of wheat and cried out， 'In the name of the King and the nation， wheat at one-half the market-price！"' An old officer of the Royal Grenadiers， a chevalier of the order of Saint-Louis， is reported to be marching at the head of several parishes， and promulgating ordinances in his own name and that of the King， imposing a fine of eight livres on whoever may refuse to join him. - On all sides there is a swarm of working people， and resistance is fruitless. There are too many of them， the constabulary being drowned in the flood. For， these rustic legislators are the National Guard itself， and when they vote reductions upon， or requisitions for， supplies， they enforce their demands with their guns. The municipal officials， willingly or unwillingly， must needs serve the insurgents. At Donjon the Electoral Assembly has seized the mayor of the place and threatened to kill him， or to burn his house， if he did not put the cutting of wheat at forty sous； whereupon he signs， and all the mayors with him， "under the penalty of death." As soon as this is done the peasants， "to the sound of fifes and drums，" spread through the neighboring parishes and force the delivery of wheat at forty sous， and show such a determined spirit that the four brigades of gendarmes sent out against them think it best to retire. - Not content with taking what they want， they provide for reserve supplies； wheat is a prisoner. In Nivernais and Bourbonnais， the peasants trace a boundary line over which no sack of grain of that region must pass； in case of any infraction of this law the rope and the torch are close at hand for the delinquent. - It remains to make sure that this rule is enforced. In Berri bands of peasants visit the markets to see that their tariff is everywhere maintained.
