"
In Seine et Oise, "citizens of the neighborhood of Paris and even of
Versailles[117] state that they are reduced to four ounces of bread."
At Saint-Denis,[118] with a population of six thousand, "a large part
of the inhabitants, worn out with suffering, betake themselves to the
charity depots. Workmen, especially, cannot do their work for lack of
food. A good many women, mothers and nurses, have been found in their
houses unconscious, without any sign of life in them, and many have
died with their infants at their breasts." Even in a larger and less
forsaken town, Saint-Germain,[119] the misery surpasses all that one
can imagine. "Half-a-pound of flour for each inhabitant," not daily,
but at long intervals; "bread at fifteen and sixteen francs the pound
and all other provisions at the same rate; a people which is sinking,
losing hope and perishing. Yesterday, for the f?te of the 9th of
Thermidor, not a sign of rejoicing; on the contrary, symptoms of
general and profound depression, tottering specters in the streets,
mournful shrieks of ravaging hunger or shouts of rage, almost every
one, driven to the last extremity of misery, welcoming death as a
boon.
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