登陆注册
14926100000177

第177章

HARDSHIPS.

I. Privations.

Under Louis XIV. - Under Louis XV. - Under Louis XVI.

La Bruyère wrote, just a century before 1789,[1]:

"Certain savage-looking animals, male and female, are seen in the country, black, livid and sunburned, and attached to the soil which they dig and grub with invincible stubbornness. They seem capable of speech, and, when they stand erect, they display a human face. They are, in fact, men. They retire at night into their dens where they live on black bread, water and roots. They spare other human beings the trouble of sowing, plowing and harvesting, and thus should not be in want of the bread they have planted."They are, however, in want during the twenty-five years after this, and die in droves. I estimate that in 1715 more than one-third of the population,[2] six millions, perish with hunger and of destitution.

This description is, in respect of the first quarter of the century preceding the Revolution, far from being too vivid, it is rather too weak; we shall see that it, during more than half a century, up to the death of Louis XV. is exact; so that instead of weakening any of its details, they should be strengthened.

"In 1725," says Saint-Simon, "with the profusion of Strasbourg and Chantilly, the people, in Normandy, live on the grass of the fields.

The first king in Europe could not be a great king if it was not for all the beggars and the poor-houses full of dying from whom all had been taken even though it was peace-time.[3]

In the most prosperous days of Fleury and in the finest region in France, the peasant hides "his wine on account of the excise and his bread on account of the taille," convinced "that he is a lost man if any doubt exists of his dying of starvation."[4] In 1739 d'Argenson writes in his journal[5]:

"The famine has just caused three insurrections in the provinces, at Ruffec, at Caen, and at Chinon. Women carrying their bread with them have been assassinated on the highways. . . M. le Duc d'Orléans brought to the Council the other day a piece of bread, and placed it on the table before the king 'Sire,' said he, 'there is the bread on which your subjects now feed themselves.'" "In my own canton of Touraine men have been eating herbage more than a year." Misery finds company on all sides. "It is talked about at Versailles more than ever. The king interrogated the bishop of Chartres on the condition of his people; he replied that 'the famine and the morality were such that men ate grass like sheep and died like so many flies.'"In 1740,[6] Massillon, bishop of Clermont-Ferrand, writes to Fleury:

"The people of the rural districts are living in frightful destitution, without beds, without furniture; the majority, for half the year, even lack barley and oat bread which is their sole food, and which they are compelled to take out of their own and their children's mouths to pay the taxes. It pains me to see this sad spectacle every year on my visits. The Negroes of our colonies are, in this respect, infinitely better off; for, while working, they are fed and clothed along with their wives and children, while our peasantry, the most laborious in the kingdom, cannot, with the hardest and most devoted labor, earn bread for themselves and their families, and at the same time pay their charges." In 1740[7] at Lille, the people rebel against the export of grain. "An intendant informs me that the misery increases from hour to hour, the slightest danger to the crops resulting in this for three years past. . . .Flanders, especially, is greatly embarrassed; there is nothing to live on until the harvesting, which will not take place for two months. The provinces the best off are not able to help the others. Each bourgeois in each town is obliged to feed one or two poor persons and provide them with fourteen pounds of bread per week. In the little town of Chatellerault, (of 4,000 inhabitants), 1800 poor, this winter, are in that situation. . .

. The poor outnumber those able to live without begging . . . while prosecutions for unpaid dues are carried on with unexampled rigor. The clothes of the poor, their last measure of flour and the latches on their doors are seized, etc. .. . The abbess of Jouarre told me yesterday that, in her canton, in Brie, most of the land had not been planted." It is not surprising that the famine spreads even to Paris.

"Fears are entertained of next Wednesday. There is no more bread in Paris, except that of the damaged flour which is brought in and which burns (when baking). The mills are working day and night at Belleville, regrinding old damaged flour. The people are ready to rebel; bread goes up a sol a day; no merchant dares, or is disposed, to bring in his wheat. The market on Wednesday was almost in a state of revolt, there being no bread in it after seven o'clock in the morning. . . . The poor creatures at Bicêtre prison were put on short rations, three quarterons (twelve ounces), being reduced to only half a pound. A rebellion broke out and they forced the guards. Numbers escaped and they have inundated Paris. The watch, with the police of the neighborhood, were called out, and an attack was made on these poor wretches with bayonet and sword. About fifty of them were left on the ground; the revolt was not suppressed yesterday morning."Ten years later the evil is greater.[8]

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 红颜旧心已变

    红颜旧心已变

    他贵为太子手握大权享有一世繁华,却唯独不能护她一世周全。她出身将门学的一身绝世武功,却唯独无法掌握自己的人生。她与他青梅竹马两小无猜本应携手共度一生,谁知半路杀出个绝世美男......“从今天起我就是你的皇婶,你我之间只能是长辈与晚辈之间的关系。”她含泪将他推开并且说出了有史以来最违心的一句话。“无论何时皇后的位子我都会为你留着,只要你愿意,哪怕是冒天下之大不韪我也会将你从那人手中抢回。”他眼神坚定的说出自己的誓言。
  • 我在海大

    我在海大

    那个下午,我遇上了杨老爷子,我写下我和他之间的故事打算投稿给校报,可师傅并不满意,于是我将我的经历改成了小说。请允许我从那个下午开始,将我的经历娓娓道来
  • 无叶斗天

    无叶斗天

    我只是一个平凡的人我只是一个普通的玩家我只是一个想在游戏中赚点钱我只是想改变我的生活可是当比这些还要重要的任务落在我身上的时候我不介意站在人类的顶峰就连魔神都在我的脚下颤抖
  • 天荒九界之旅

    天荒九界之旅

    一柄断刀,紫气冲天,掌控万物机缘;一双魔瞳,七色相融,破尽世间一切虚妄;黑暗纹身,九蛇环绕,噬尽天下万物......这是属于九天兽的传奇......太初之时,诸天混战,亘古破碎,九天兽随之沉寂。无数纪元以后,一个神秘少年穿梭于各方世界中,<东京喰种><龙族><钢之炼金术士><三界>......追寻着九天兽的遗骨,遨游于苍茫宇宙中!
  • 绝世武神

    绝世武神

    楚阳异世重生十六年,原本资质平平,忆起前世记忆,觉醒命运双生子武魂:一阴一阳,一正一反,天才和傻子,诸神与万魔。执掌两极,武道再无歧路,命运不再缥缈。起于东荒,达于东洲,临神朝,踏诸神界,放浪形骸,嬉笑怒骂,凭心行事,戏虐无双天骄,轻慢至高存在,逗弄佳人,我主沉浮!
  • 一醉千秋游红尘

    一醉千秋游红尘

    夏小雨是名高三理科女,在最后的几个月中煎熬,挣扎,却意外地穿越了!一边是温文尔雅,玉树临风的皇甫少城,一边是冷若冰霜,却默默付出的慕容羽,夏小雨最终会选择谁呢?这个夏天注定不凉爽!
  • 民枢

    民枢

    伏羲为上古,神农为中古,五帝为下古.尧、舜,民亦天兮,民亦主兮.三皇五帝,唯民不灭.只要你是我的子民,无论你是人是兽还是妖,吾亦你纵横.血泣天法纵横家,吾欲纵横法治天,天道的法吏由吾审判.想我时,请仰望天.众生付出,我必愿之.一人之躯,天民之枢,遥望血海万万里,我欲破天,神不冥.---------一个男人如何登上宇宙的巅峰,降临宇宙位面至尊.天若不公,亦破天.地若不平,亦踏平.人若不公,亦灭魂.民若在手,天下我有.一切阶级、利益、斗争、权谋、宇宙,在民术之下统统湮灭.
  • 镇天神龟

    镇天神龟

    尘封千年的神龟被破坏,天地震动,恶魔肆虐,唯待一人解救。懵懂的高中生,进入平行的异世界,拯救苍生。
  • 萌宠恋人

    萌宠恋人

    苏欣允偷偷潜入何凯洋的卧室,只见床头放了一本旧旧的相册,她好奇地翻开,里面夹了一张泛黄的明信片,那是何凯洋写的,只可惜再也没有资格寄给那人:你还记不记得,那日在橘子洲头看水,在岳麓山下牵手,我与你走在中南大学的后街,吃着烤肉串,唱着小曲儿?只可惜南岳一聚,竟是最后一次以情侣的名义与你一同看风景,再也回不去了,我的美好时光。
  • 亡国公主之吾自妖娆

    亡国公主之吾自妖娆

    那一夜,月光清明,却照得一切那么凄哀。那一夜,无霜城破,大虞国灭,乱臣篡位。那一夜,她从高高在上的大虞国长公主,无霜城主,沦为新国臣民人人忌惮的亡国公主。那一夜,一切,一切都变了······所谓之曰:孤月离殇!