a
total stagnation of commerce, by laying embargoes on what they did
not want; so that it frequently occurred that an unfortunate
tradesman might have half the articles in his shop under requisition
for a month together, and sometimes under different requisitions
from deputies, commissaries of war, and agents of subsistence, all
at once; nor could any thing be disposed of till such claims were
satisfied or relinquished.

*** Jacobin missionaries were sent from Paris, and other great
towns, to keep up the spirits of the people, to explain the benefits
of the revolution, (which, indeed, were not very apparent,) and to
maintain the connection between the provincial and metropolitan
societies.--I remember the Deputies on mission at Perpignan writing
to the Club at Paris for a reinforcement of civic apostles, _"pour
evangeliser les habitans et les mettre dans la voie de salut"_--("to
convert the inhabitants, and put them in the road to salvation").

--These movements are almost entirely confined to the official travellers
of the republic; for, besides the scarcity of horses, the increase of
expence, and the diminution of means, few people are willing to incur the
suspicion or hazard* attendant on quitting their homes, and every
possible obstacle is thrown in the way of a too general intercourse
between the inhabitants of large towns.

* There were moments when an application for a passport was certain
of being followed by a mandat d'arret--(a writ of arrest). The
applicant was examined minutely as to the business he was going
upon, the persons he was to transact it with, and whether the
journey was to be performed on horseback or in a carriage, and any
signs of impatience or distaste at those democratic ceremonies were
sufficient to constitute _"un homme suspect"_--("a suspicious
person"), or at least one _"soupconne d'etre suspect,"_ that is, a man
suspected of being suspicious. In either case it was usually deemed
expedient to prevent the dissemination of his supposed principles,
by laying an embargo on his person.--I knew a man under persecution
six months together, for having gone from one department to another
to see his family.

The committee of Public Welfare is making rapid advances to an absolute
concentration of the supreme power, and the convention, while they are
the i