rruption
continues to prevail among high and low. Instead of individual thrift
and general prosperity, poverty and famine prevail throughout the land.

APPEAL FOR BREAD

In 1775, impelled by a scarcity of bread, a vast multitude from the
surrounding country gather around the royal palace at Versailles, their
great number, sallow faces and squalid appearance indicating widespread
wretchedness and want. Their appeal for royal assistance is plainly
written, in "legible hieroglyphics in their winged raggedness." The
young king appears on the balcony and they are permitted to see his
face. If he does not read their written appeal, he sees it in their
pitiable condition. The response of the king is an order, that two of
them be hanged. The rest are sent back to their miserable hovels with a
warning not to give the king any more trouble.

Mirabeau, a French writer, describes a similar scene that occurs later
that same year. "The savages descending in torrents from the mountains
our people are ordered not to go out. The bagpipes begin to play, but
the dance in a quarter of an hour is interrupted by a battle. The cries
of children and infirm persons incite them, as the rabble does when dogs
fight. The men, like frightful wild animals, are clad in coarse woollen
jackets with large girdles of leather studded with copper nails. Their
gigantic stature is heightened by high wooden clogs. Their faces are
haggard and covered with long greasy hair. The upper part of their
visage waxes pale, while the lower distorts itself into a cruel laugh,
or the appearance of a ferocious impatience."

These proceedings are a protest of the common people, of whom there are
twenty millions, against government by blind-man's-buff. These people,
paying their taxes, are protesting against corrupt officials depriving
them of their salt and sugar, in order to maintain royal and official
extravagance. Stumbling too far prepares the way for a general overturn.

MORAL AND FINANCIAL BANKRUPTCY

There is no visible government. Its principal representative is the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, or king's treasurer; and "Deficit of
revenue" is his constant announcement, to the feudal lords, who exercise
local government. In 1787 Cardinal Lomenie becomes the king's new
treasurer. His predecessor has been ousted because the treasury was
bankrupt, but his unscrupulous methods continue to be adopted because no
better ones can be devised. As late as the next yea