* On Germinal 6th， "Section of the Observatory，"[142] at the distribution， "forty-one persons had been without bread； several pregnant women desired immediate confinement so as to destroy their infants； others asked for knives to stab themselves."* On Germinal 8th，" a large number of persons who had passed the night at the doors of the bakeries were obliged to leave without getting any bread."* On Germinal 24th， "the police commissioner of the Arsenal section states that many become ill for lack of food， and that he buries quite a number.... The same day， he has heard of five or six citizens， who， finding themselves without bread， and unable to get other food， throw themselves into the Seine."* Germinal 27， "the women say that they feel so furious and are in such despair on account of hunger and want that they must inevitably commit some act of violence. . . . In the section of 'Les Amis de la Patrie，' one half have no bread. . . . Three persons tumbled down through weakness on the Boulevard du Temple."* Floréal 2， "most of the workmen in the 'République' section are leaving Paris on account of the scarcity of bread."* Floréal 5， "eighteen out of twenty-four inspectors state that patience is exhausted and that things are coming to an end."* Floréal 14， "the distribution is always unsatisfactory on account of the four-ounce ration； two thirds of the citizens do without it. One woman， on seeing the excitement of her husband and her four children who had been without bread for two days， trailed through the gutter tearing her hair and striking her head； she then got up in a state of fury and attempted to drown herself."* Floréal 20， "all exclaim that they cannot live on three ounces of bread， and， again， of such bad quality. Mothers and pregnant women fall down with weakness."* Floréal 21， "the inspectors state that they encounter many persons in the streets who have fallen through feebleness and inanition."* Floréal 23， "a citoyenne who had no bread for her child tied it to her side and jumped into the river. Yesterday， an individual named Mottez， in despair through want， cut his throat."* Floréal 25， "several persons， deprived of any means of existence， gave up in complete discouragement， and fell down with weakness and exhaustion. . . . In the 'Gravilliers' section， two men were found dead with inanition. . . . The peace officers report the decease of several citizens； one cut his throat， while another was found dead in his bed." Floréal 28， "numbers of people sink down for lack of something to eat； yesterday， a man was found dead and others exhausted through want."* Prairial 24， "Inspector Laignier states that the indigent are compelled to seek nourishment in the piles of garbage on the corners."* Messidor 1，[143] "the said Picard fell through weakness at ten o'clock in the morning in the rue de la Loi， and was only brought to at seven o'clock in the evening； he was carried to the hospital on a hand-barrow."* Messidor 11， "There is a report that the number of people trying to drown themselves is so great that the nets at St. Cloud scarcely suffice to drag them out of the water."* Messidor 19， "A man was found on the corner of a street just dead with hunger."* Messidor 27， "At four o'clock in the afternoon， Place Maubert， a man named Marcelin， employed in the Jardin des Plantes， fell down through starvation and died while assistance was being given to him." On the previous evening， the anniversary of the taking of the Bastille， a laborer on the Pont-au-Change， says " I have eaten nothing all day.
''Another replies ： " I have not been home because I have nothing to give to my wife and children， dying with hunger." About the same date， a friend of Mallet-Dupan writes to him "that he is daily witness to people amongst the lower classes dying of inanition in the streets；others， and principally women， have nothing but garbage to live on， scraps of refuse vegetables and the blood running out of the slaughter houses. Laborers， generally， work on short time on account of their lack of strength and of their exhaustion for want of food."[144] -Thus ends the rule of the Convention. Well has it looked out for the interests of the poor！ According to the reports of its own inspectors， "famished stomachs on all sides cry vengeance， beat to arms and sound the tocsin of alarm[145] . . . . Those who have to dwell daily on the sacrifices they make to keep themselves alive declare that there is no hope except in death." Are they going to be relieved by the new government which the Convention imposes on them with thunders of artillery and in which it perpetuates itself？[146] -* Brumaire 28， " Most of the workmen in the 'Temple' and 'Gravilliers'