"A person from Languedoc tells me of vast numbers of peasants deserting that province and taking refuge in Piedmont， Savoy， and Spain， tormented and frightened by the measures resorted to in collecting tithes. . . . The extortioners sell everything and imprison everybody as if prisoners of war， and even with more avidity and malice， in order to gain something themselves." - "I met an intendant of one of the finest provinces in the kingdom， who told me that no more farmers could be found there； that parents preferred to send their children to the towns； that living in the surrounding country was daily becoming more horrible to the inhabitants. . . . Aman， well-informed in financial matters， told me that over two hundred families in Normandy had left this year， fearing the collections in their villages." - At Paris， "the streets swarm with beggars. One cannot stop before a door without a dozen mendicants besetting him with their importunities. They are said to be people from the country who， unable to endure the persecutions they have to undergo， take refuge in the cities . . . preferring begging to labor." - And yet the people of the cities are not much better off. "An officer of a company in garrison at Mezieres tells me that the poverty of that place is so great that， after the officers had dined in the inns， the people rush in and pillage the remnants." - "There are more than 12，000 begging workmen in Rouen， quite as many in Tours， etc. More than 20，000 of these workmen are estimated as having left the kingdom in three months for Spain， Germany， etc. At Lyons 20，000 workers in silk are watched and kept in sight for fear of their going abroad." At Rouen，[10] and in Normandy， "those in easy circumstances find it difficult to get bread， the bulk of the people being entirely without it， and， to ward off starvation， providing themselves with food otherwise repulsive to human beings." - "Even at Paris，" writes d'Argenson，[11] "I learn that on the day M. le Dauphin and Mme. la Dauphine went to Notre Dame， on passing the bridge of the Tournelle， more than 2，000 women assembled in that quarter crying out， 'Give us bread， or we shall die of hunger.' . . . A vicar of the parish of Saint-Marguerite affirms that over eight hundred persons died in the Faubourg St. Antoine between January 20th and February 20th； that the poor expire with cold and hunger in their garrets， and that the priests， arriving too late， see them expire without any possible relief."Were I to enumerate the riots， the sedition of the famished， and the pillaging of storehouses， I should never end； these are the convulsive twitching of exhaustion； the people have fasted as long as possible， and instinct， at last， rebels. In 1747，[12] "extensive bread-riots occur in Toulouse， and in Guyenne they take place on every market-day." In 1750， from 6 to 7，000 men gather in Bearn behind a river to resist the clerks； two companies of the Artois regiment fire on the rebels and kill a dozen of them. In 1752， a sedition at Rouen and in its neighborhood lasts three days； in Dauphiny and in Auvergne riotous villagers force open the grain warehouses and take away wheat at their own price； the same year， at Arles， 2，000 armed peasants demand bread at the town-hall and are dispersed by the soldiers. In one province alone， that of Normandy， I find insurrections in 1725， in 1737， in 1739， in 1752， in 1764， 1765， 1766， 1767 and I768，[13] and always on account of bread.
"Entire hamlets，" writes the Parliament， "being without the necessities of life， hunger compels them to resort to the food of brutes. . . . Two days more and Rouen will be without provisions， without grain， without bread."Accordingly， the last riot is terrible； on this occasion， the populace， again masters of the town for three days， pillage the public granaries and the stores of all the communities. - Up to the last and even later， in 1770 at Rheims， in 1775 at Dijon， at Versailles， at St. Germain， at Pontoise and at Paris， in 1772 at Poitiers， in 1785 at Aix in Provence， in 1788 and 1789 in Paris and throughout France， similar eruptions are visible.[14] - Undoubtedly the government under Louis XVI is milder； the intendants are more humane， the administration is less rigid， the taille becomes less unequal， and the corvée is less onerous through its transformation， in short， misery has diminished， and yet this is greater than human nature can bear.