"You will be told," says a petition,[30] "that we violate the law.
We reply to these perfidious insinuations that the salvation of the
people is the supreme law. We come in order to keep the markets
supplied, and to insure an uniform price for wheat throughout the
Republic. For, there is no doubt about it, the purest patriotism
dies out (sic) when there is no bread to be had. . . .
Resistance to oppression - yes, resistance to oppression is the
most sacred of duties; is there any oppression more terrible than
that of wanting bread? Undoubtedly, no . . . . Join us and '?a
ira, ?a ira!' We cannot end our petition better than with this
patriotic air."
This supplication was written on a drum, amidst a circle of
firearms; and with such accompaniments it is equivalent to a
command. - They are well aware of it, and of their own authority
they often confer upon themselves not only the right but also the
title. In Loire-et-Cher,[31] a band of from four to five thousand
men assume the name of "Sovereign Power.
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