Picardy was hardly to be described; the
people were literally dying of hunger. The Ladies of Charity had at
first come nobly to the rescue, but the Foundling Hospital was now
absorbing all their funds; they could do no more. Then Vincent
conceived the idea of printing leaflets describing the sufferings of
the people and what was being done to help them by the Mission
Priests. These were sold at the church doors, in the public squares
and in the streets, and people bought them with such avidity that
Vincent soon realized a steady little income.

In days when there were no such things as newspapers, regular tidings
from the provinces were as welcome as they were unexpected. "God
showered such blessings on the work," says Vincent, "that the greater
number of those who read these narratives opened their hands for the
relief of the poor."

The next step was to institute in all the regions where famine was
prevalent public soup kitchens, where nourishing soup, made at the
lowest possible cost, was portioned out among the poor. Vincent
himself gave minute directions for its making, prescribing the
ingredients so that the greatest number of people might be maintained
at the least expense.

In many places laid waste by fire and sword, the dead remained
unburied for days or even weeks. Heaps of filth and garbage were left
to rot at the doors of houses and in the streets; pestilence and fever
reigned supreme. Here, again, the Priests of the Mission and the
Sisters of Charity devoted themselves to the work that no one else
would do. Organizing themselves into bands, they went about burying
the dead, nursing the sick and cleansing the streets, many of them
dying of the pestilence.

It was very necessary, moreover, to take steps to bring back some kind
of prosperity to the devastated country. Seeds and grain were
distributed among the peasants, who were encouraged to cultivate the
land and taught the best methods of doing so. All these different
undertakings were carried out with the regularity and practical common
sense that were characteristic of the sons of St. Vincent de Paul,
accustomed as they were to brave hardship and danger without a thought
of their own safety.

If their Superior asked much of others, he himself set the example in
generosity. It was said of him that he never could keep anything for
his own use, either clothes or money; everything that came into his
hands went straight to the poor. There were days at