Of all the prints I enquired for, I only got Barrere, Sieyes, and a few others of leſs note. Your laſt commiſſions I have executed more ſucceſſfully, for though the neceſſaries of life are almoſt unpurchaſeable, articles of taſte, books, perfumery, &c. are cheaper than ever. This is unfortunately the reverſe of what ought to be the caſe, but the augmentation in the price of proviſions is to be accounted for in various ways, and that things of the deſcription I allude to do not bear a price in proportion is doubtleſs to be attributed to the preſent poverty of thoſe who uſed to be the purchaſers of them; while the people who are become rich under the new government are of a deſcription to ſeek for more ſubſtantial luxuries than books and eſſences.—I ſhould however obſerve, that the venders of any thing not periſhable, and who are not forced to ſell for their daily ſubſiſtence, are ſolicitous to evade every demand for any article which is to be paid for in aſſignats.
I was looking at ſome trinkets in a ſhop at the Palais Royal, and on my aſking the miſtreſs of it if the ornaments were ſilver, ſhe ſmiled ſignificantly, and replied, ſhe had nothing ſilver nor gold in the ſhop, but if I choſe to purchaſe en eſpece, ſhe would ſhow me whatever I deſired: "Mais pour le papier nous n'en avons que trop." ["In coin, but for paper we have already too much of it.">[
Many of the old ſhops are nearly empty, and the little trade which yet exiſts is carried on by a ſort of adventurers who, without being bred to any one trade, ſet up half a dozen, and perhaps diſappear three monthſ afterwards. They are, I believe, chiefly men who have ſpeculated on the aſſignats, and as ſoon as they have turned their capital in a mercantile way a ſhort time, become apprehenſive of the paper, realize it, and retire; or, becoming bankrupts by ſome unlucky monopoly, begin a new career of patriotiſm.
There is, properly ſpeaking, no money in circulation, yet a vaſt quantity is bought and ſold. Annuitants, poſſeſſors of moderate landed property, &c., finding it impoſſible to ſubſiſt on their incomes, are forced to have recourſe to the little ſpecie they have reſerved, and exchange it for paper. Immenſe ſums in coin are purchaſed by the government, to make good the balance of their trade with the neutral countries for proviſions, ſo that I ſhould ſuppoſe, if this continue a few months, very little will be left in the country.
One might be tempted to fancy there is ſomething in the atmoſphere of Paris which adapts the minds of its inhabitants to their political ſituation. They talk of the day appointed for a revolt a fortnight before, as though it were a fete, and the moſt timid begin to be inured to a ſtate of agitation and apprehenſion, and to conſider it as a natural viciſſitude that their lives ſhould be endangered periodically.
A commiſſion has been employed for ſome time in deviſing another new conſtitution, which is to be propoſed to the Aſſembly on the thirteenth of this month; and on that day, it is ſaid, an effort is to be made by the royaliſts. They are certainly very numerous, and the intereſt taken in the young King is univerſal. In vain have the journaliſts been forbidden to cheriſh theſe ſentiments, by publiſhing details concerning him: whatever eſcapes the walls of his priſon is circulated in impatient whiſpers, and requires neither printing nor gazettes a la main to give it publicity.*
* Under the monarchy people diſſeminated anecdotes or intelligence which they did not think it ſafe to print, by means of theſe written gazettes.—I doubt if any one would venture to have recourſe to them at preſent.
—The child is reported to be ill, and in a kind of ſtupefaction, ſo aſ to ſit whole days without ſpeaking or moving: this is not natural at hiſ age, and muſt be the conſequence of neglect, or barbarous treatment.
The Committees of Government, and indeed moſt of the Convention who have occaſionally appeared to give tacit indications of favouring the royaliſts, in order to ſecure their ſupport againſt the Jacobins, having now cruſhed the latter, begin to be ſeriouſly alarmed at the projects of the former.—Seveſtre, in the name of the Committee of Public Safety, has announced that a formidable inſurrection may be expected on the twenty-fifth of Prairial, (thirteenth June,) the Deputies on miſſion are ordered to return, and the Aſſembly propoſe to die under the ruins of the republic. They have, notwithſtanding, judged it expedient to fortify theſe heroic diſpoſitions by the aid of a military force, and a large number of regular troops are in Paris and the environs. We ſhall certainly depart before this menacing epoch: the application for our paſſports was made on our firſt arrival, and Citizen Liebault, Principal of the Office for Foreign Affairs, who is really very civil, has promiſed them in a day or two.
Our journey here was, in fact, unneceſſary; but we have few republican acquaintance, and thoſe who are called ariſtocrats do not execute commiſſion of this kind zealouſly, nor without ſome apprehenſions of committing themſelves.—You will wonder that I find time to write to you, nor do I pretend to aſſume much merit from it. We have not often courage to frequent public places in the evening, and, when we do, I continually dread ſome unlucky accident: either a riot between the Terroriſts and Muſcadins, within, or a military inveſtment without. The laſt time we were at the theatre, a French gentleman, who was our eſcort, entered into a trifling altercation with a rude vulgar-looking man, in the box, who ſeemed to ſpeak in a very authoritative tone, and I know not how the matter might have ended, had not a friend in the next box ſilenced our companion, by conveying a penciled card, which informed him the perſon he was diſputing with was a Deputy of the Convention. We took an early opportunity of retreating, not perfectly at eaſe about the conſequenceſ which might enſue from Mr. ———— having ventured to differ in opinion from a Member of the Republican Legiſlature. Since that time we have paſſed our evenings in private ſocieties, or at home; and while Mr. D———— devours new pamphlets, and Mrs. D———— and the lady we lodge with recount their mutual ſufferings at Arras and St. Pelagie, I take the opportunity of writing.