Another passion exists which
is neither historic nor local, but natural and universal, the most
indomitable, most imperious, and most formidable of all, namely, the
fear of hunger. There is no such thing with this passion as delay,
or reflection, or looking beyond itself. Each commune or canton
wants its bread, and a sure and unlimited supply of it. Our
neighbor may provide for himself as best he can, but let us look out
for ourselves first and then for other people. Each group of
people, accordingly, through its own decrees, or by main force,
keeps for itself whatever subsistence it possesses, or takes from
others the subsistence which it does not possess. ii
At the end of 1789,[10] "Roussillon refuses aid to Languedoc; Upper
Languedoc to the rest of the province, and Burgundy to Lyonnais;
Dauphiny shuts herself up, and Normandy retains the wheat purchased
for the relief of Paris." At Paris, sentinels are posted at the
doors of all the bakers; on the 21st of October one of the latter is
hung, and his head is borne about on a pike.
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