,
253 (July 18, 1795). "It is not the same now as in the early days of
the Revolution, which then bore heavily only on certain classes of
society; now, everybody feels the scourge, hourly, in every department
of civil life. Goods and provisions advance daily (in price) in much
greater proportion than the decline in assignats. . . . Paris is
really a city of furnishing shops. . . The immense competition for
these objects raises all goods twenty five per cent. a week.... It
is the same with provisions. A sack of wheat weighing three quintals
is now worth nine thousand francs, a pound of beef thirty six francs,
a pair of shoes one hundred francs. It is impossible for artisans to
raise their wages proportionately with such a large and rapid
increase." - Cf. "Diary of Lord Malmesbury," III., 290 (October 27,
1796). After 1795, the gains of the peasants, land owners and
producers are very large; from 1792 to 1796 they accumulate and hide
away most of the current coin. They were courageous enough and smart
enough to protect their hoard against the violence of the
revolutionary government; "hence, at the time of the depreciation of
assignats, they bought land extraordinarily cheap.
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