The things we do!

At Marseilles the home of the slaughter-house contractor and
at Brignolles that of the director of the leather excise, are
sacked. The determination is "to purge the land of excise-men. " -
- This is only a beginning; bread and other provisions must become
cheap, and that without delay. At Arles, the Corporation of
sailors, presided over by M. de Barras, consul, had just elected its
representatives. By way of conclusion to the meeting, they pass a
resolution insisting that M. de Barras should reduce the price of
all comestibles. On his refusal, they "open the window, exclaiming,
'We hold him, and we have only to throw him into the street for the
rest to pick him up.'" Compliance is inevitable. The resolution is
proclaimed by the town-criers, and at each article which is reduced
in price the crowd shout, "Vive le Roi, vive M. Barras !" -- One
must yield to brute force. But the inconvenience is great for,
through the suppression of the flour-tax, the towns have no longer a
revenue.


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