The things we do!

In addition to this, on the eve
of the harvest,[1] a terrible hail-storm burst over the region
around Paris, from Normandy to Champagne, devastating sixty leagues
of the most fertile territory, and causing damage to the amount of
one hundred millions of francs. Winter came on, the severest that
had been seen since 1709. At the close of December the Seine was
frozen over from Paris to Havre, while the thermometer stood at 180
below zero. A third of the olive-trees died in Provence, and the
rest suffered to such an extent that they were considered incapable
of bearing fruit for two years to come. The same disaster befell
Languedoc. In Vivarais, and in the Cevennes, whole forests of
chestnuts had perished, along with all the grain and grass crops on
the uplands. On the plain the Rhone remained in a state of overflow
for two months. After the spring of 1789 the famine spread
everywhere, and it increased from month to month like a rising
flood. In vain did the Government order the farmers, proprietors,
and corn-dealers to keep the markets supplied.


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