Collot d'Herbois wrote from Lyons on November 6， 1793： "There is not two days' supply of provisions here." On the following day： "The present population of Lyons is one hundred and thirty thousand souls at least， and there is not sufficient subsistence for three days."Again the day after： "Our situation in relation to food is deplorable." Then， the next day： "Famine is beginning."[45] - Near by， in the Montbrison district， in February， 1794， "there is no food or provisions left for the people；" all has been taken by requisition and carried off， even seed for planting， so that the fields lie fallow.[46] - At Marseilles， "since the maximum， everything is lacking； even the fishermen no longer go out (on the sea) so that there is no supply of fish to live on."[47] - At Cahors， in spite of multiplied requisitions， the Directory of Lot and Representative Taillefer[48] state that "the inhabitants， for more than eight days， are reduced wholly to maslin bread composed of one-fifth of wheat and the rest of barley， barley-malt and millet." - At N？mes，[49] to make the grain supply last， which is giving out， the bakers and all private persons are ordered not to sift the meal， but to leave the bran in it and knead and bake the "dough such as it is." - At Grenoble，[50] "the bakers have stopped baking； the country people no longer bring wheat in； the dealers hide away their goods， or put them in the hands of neighborly officials， or send them off." - " It goes from bad to worse，" write the agents of Huningue；[51] one might say even， that they would give this or that article to their cattle rather than sell it in conformity with the tax." - The inhabitants of towns are everywhere put on rations， and so small a ration as to scarcely keep them from dying with hunger. "Since my arrival in Tarbes，" writes another agent，[52] "every person is limited to half a pound of bread a day， composed one-third of wheat and two-thirds of corn meal." The next day after the fête in honor of the tyrant's death there was absolutely none at all. "A half-pound of bread is also allowed at Evreux，[53] "and even this is obtained with a good deal of trouble， many being obliged to go into the country and get it from the farmers with coin." And even "they have got very little bread， flour or wheat， for they have been obliged to bring what they had to Evreux for the armies and for Paris."It is worse at Rouen and at Bordeaux： at Rouen， in Brumaire， the inhabitants have only one quarter of a pound per head per diem of bread； at Bordeaux， " for the past three months，" says the agent，[54]
" the people sleep at the doors of the bakeries， to pay high for bread which they often do not get . . . There has been no baking done to-day， and to-morrow only half a loaf will be given to each person.
This bread is made of oats and beans . . . On days that there is none， beans， chestnuts and rice are distributed in very small quantities，" four ounces of bread， five of rice or chestnuts. "I， who tell you this， have already eaten eight or ten meals without bread； Iwould gladly do without it if I could get potatoes in place of it， but these， too， cannot be had." Five months later， fasting still continues， and it lasts until after the reign of Terror， not alone in the town， but throughout the department. "In the district of Cadillac， says Tallien，[55] "absolute dearth prevails； the citizens of the rural districts contend with each other for the grass in the fields； I have eaten bread made of dog-grass." Haggard and worn out， the peasant， with his pallid wife and children， resorts to the marsh to dig roots， while there is scarcely enough strength in his arms to hold the plough. - The same spectacle is visible in places which produce but little grain， or where the granaries have been emptied by the revolutionary drafts. "In many of the Indre districts，" writes the representative on missions，[56] "food is wanting absolutely. Even in some of the communes， many of the inhabitants are reduced to a frightful state of want， feeding on acorns， bran and other unhealthy food. . . . The districts of Chatre and Argenton， especially， will be reduced to starvation unless they are promptly relieved. . . .
The cultivation of the ground is abandoned； most of the persons in the jurisdiction wander about the neighboring departments in search of food." - And it is doubtful whether they find it. In the department of Cher， "the butchers can no longer slaughter； the dealers' stores are all empty." In Allier， "the slaughterhouses and markets are deserted， every species of vegetable and aliment having disappeared；the inns are closed." In one of the Lozère districts， composed of five cantons， of which one produces an extra quantity of rye， the people live on requisitions imposed on Gard and the Upper Loire； the extortions of the representatives in these two departments "were distributed among the municipalities， and by these to the most indigent： many entire families， many of the poor and even of the rich， suffered for want of bread during six or eight days， and this frequently."[57] Nevertheless they do not riot； they merely supplicate and stretch forth their hands "with tears in their eyes. " - Such is the diet and submission of the stomach in the provinces. Paris is less patient. For this reason， all the rest is sacrificed to it，[58]
not merely the public funds， the Treasury from which it gets one or two millions per week，[59] but whole districts are starved for its benefit， six departments providing grain， twenty six departments providing pork，[60] at the rate of the maximum， through requisitions， through the prospect of imprisonment and of the scaffold in case of refusal or concealment， under the predatory bayonets of the revolutionary army. The capital， above all， has to be fed. Let us see， under this system of partiality， how people live in Paris and what they feed on.