[89] Ibid.， AF.， II.， 147. (Orders of Maignet， Avignon， Prairial 2.)[90] Moniteur， XXIII.， 397 (Speech by Dubois-Crancé， May 5， 1795.)"The Committee on Commerce (and Supplies) had thirty-five thousand employees in its service."[91] Archives Nationales， AF.， II.， 68. (Orders of the Committee of Public Safety， Prairial 28.) Decret of Messidor 8， year II. "All kinds of grain and the hay of the present crop are required by the government." A new estimate is made， each farmer being obliged to state the amount of his crop； verification， confiscation in case of inaccurate declarations， and orders to thrash out the sheaves. -Dauban， 490. (Letter of the national agent of Villefort， Thermidor 19.) Calculations and the reasoning of farmers with a view to avoid sowing and planting： "Not so much on account of the lack of hands as not to ruin oneself by sowing and raising an expensive crop which， they say， affords them small returns when they sell their grain at so low a price." Archives Nationales， AF.， II. 106. (Letter of the national agent in Gers and Haute-Garonne， Floréal 25.) "They say here， that as soon as the crop is gathered， all the grain will be taken away， without leaving anything to live on. It is stated that all salt provisions are going to be taken and the agriculturists reduced to the horrors of a famine."[92] Moniteur， XXII.， 21. (Speech by Lindet， September 7， 1794.) "We have long feared that the ground would not be tilled， that the meadows would be covered with cattle while the proprietors and farmers were kept in prison." Archives Nationales， D.， § I， No. I. (Letter from the district of Bar-sur-Seine， Vent？se 14， year III.) "The 'maximum'
causes the concealment of grain. The quit-claims ruined the consumers and rendered them desperate. How many wretches， indeed， have been arrested， - ？attacked， confiscated， fined and ruined for having gone off fifteen or twenty leagues to get grain with which to feed their wives and children？"[93] AF.， II.， 106. (Circular by Dartigoyte， Floréal 25.) "You must apply this rule， that is， make the municipal officers responsible for the non cultivation of the soil." "If any citizen allows himself a different kind of bread， other than that which all the cultivators and laborers in the commune use， I shall have him brought before the courts conjointly with the municipality as being the first culprit guilty of having tolerated it. . . Reduce， if necessary， three fourths of the bread allowed to non laboring citizens because muscadins and muscadines： have resources and， besides， lead an idle life."[94] AF.， II.， III. (Letters of Ferry， Bourges， Messidor 23， to his "brethren in the popular club，" and "to the citoyennes (women) of Indre-et-Cher.")[95] Moniteur， XXI.， 171. (Letter from Avignon， Messidor 9， and letter of the Jacobins of Arles.
[96] Moniteur， XXI.， 184. (Decree of Messidor 21.)[97] Gouverneur Morris. (correspondence with Washington. Letters of March 27 and April 10， 1794.) He says that there is no record of such an early spring. Rye has headed out and clover is in flower. It is astonishing to see apricots in April as large as pigeons' eggs. In the south， where the dearth is most severe， he has good reason to believe that the ground is supplying the inhabitants with food. Afrost like that of the year before in the month of May (1793) would help the famine more than all the armies and fleets in Europe.
[98] Stalin was to test the system and prove Taine right. (SR.)[99] Archives Nationales， AF.， II.， 73. (Letter by the Directory of Calvados， Prairial 26， year III.) "We have not a grain of wheat in store， and the prisons are full of cultivators." Archives Nationales， D.， § 1， file No.3. (Warrants of arrest issued by Representative Albert， Pluvi？se 19， year III.， Germinal 7 and 16.) On the details of the difficulties and annoyances attending the requisitions， cf. this file and the five preceding or following files. (Letter of the National agent， district of Nogent-sur-Seine， Germinal 13.) "I have had summoned before the district court a great many cultivators and proprietors who are in arrears in furnishing the requisitions made on them by their respective municipalities. . . . A large majority declared that they were unable to furnish in full even if their seed were taken. The court ordered the confiscation of the said grain with a fine equal to the value of the quantity demanded of those called upon . . It is now my duty to execute the sentence. But， I must observe to you， that if you do not reduce the fine， many of them will be reduced to despair. Hence I await your answer so that I may act accordingly." (Another letter from the same agent， Germinal 9.) "It is impossible to supply the market of Villarceaux； seven communes under requisition prevented it through the district of Sozannes which constantly keeps an armed force there to carry grain away as soon as thrashed." - It is interesting to remark the inquisitorial sentimentality of the official agents and the low stage of culture.
(Proces verbal of the Magincourt municipality， Vent？se 7.) Of course Iam obliged to correct the spelling so as to render it intelligible.
The said Croiset， gendarme， went with the national agent into the houses of citizens in arrears， of whom， amongst those in arrears， nobody refused but Jean Mauchin， whom we could not keep from talking against him， seeing that he is wholly egoist and only wants for himself. He declared to us that， if， the day before his harvesting he had any left， he would share it with the citizens that needed it. .
. . Alas， yes， how could one refrain from shutting up such an egoist who wants only for himself to the detriment of his fellow citizens？ Aproof of the truth is that he feeds in his house three dogs， at least one hundred and fifty chickens and even pigeons， which uses up a lot of grain， enough to hinder the satisfaction of all the requisitions.