arlette farge, jacques revel the vanishing children of paris rumor and politics before the french...

7/28/2019 Arlette Farge, Jacques Revel the Vanishing Children of Paris Rumor and Politics Before the French Revolution 1991

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Vg f P

m n c Fnc n

Arlette Farge

acques Revel

T b

H U


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English translation Polity Press 1991

All rights reserved

Printed in Great Britain

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Originally published as Lgqu d u, copyright

Hachette, Paris, 1988Library of Congress Cataloging-inPublication Data

Farge, Arlette.[Logiques e la foule English]The vanishing children of Paris, rumor and politics before the

French Revolution/Arlette Farge and Jacques Revel.p. cm

Translation of: Logiques de la foule.Includes bibliographical references.ISBN 749319391. Paris (France) History 17151789. 2. Riots France-

Paris History 18th century 3 Missing children FrancParis History 18th century I Revelacques 1942 . II

TitleDC729.F3713 1991944'.36034 dc20 922819 P


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Contents

Introducton 1

1 The Landscape of Revolt 7

2 Orders n the Cit

29

3 The Rues ofRebeon . 51

Truth and Rumour . 1

5 The Unoved 1 15

Notes 133


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ES:HE

NOUEE

ST HONOR UERES

\o

A COURl

FAUBOURG

ANONE -

" _

Areas ofthe Revoltof75


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Introduction

Is t crue or s t knd? We often speak about a town nthe same wa we speak of a person. We observe tsmoods, descrbe ts temperament and mbue t wth a

personat of ts own. We stud the town as we woudstud an unpredctabe chd We scrutnze ts engmatcform as though t were a woman We watch t vngand breathng, hopng to dscover ts secret

For a ong tme, the ucd et nscrutabe sprt ofPars has been metcuous eamned In the eghteenth

centur, however, ths ceaseess commentar on thetown begns to change n content and functon and amsto become usefu as apped knowedge It s then thatthe urban area becomes the subject of precse stud andepermentaton Admnstrators, doctors and ot-cans a tr to master the cts secrets n order toorganze t more efcent An dsturbng sentments

of uncertant are reegated to mere chroncers andbstanders. In spte of ths, Pars ressts the condenceof the epets, dsconcerts ther certantes and evadesther casscatons and generazatons. Sooner or aterthe too must confront those msteres whch the hadbeeved to be soube the town, the peope, the crowd.

1


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2 ntroduton

he capital had a good eputation on the whole LouisSbastien Mecie who spent a lifetime as chonicle ofPais ntes in his Tableau de Par (172) that the citywas geneally peaceful and his opinion was widelyshaed in the Age of Enlightenment. Diaists and jounalists agee in acknowledging that the people of Paisae by natue good docile and fa emoved fom anyhint of tumoil his calm natue does not howeve

signify apathy. Mecie who pobably mistakenlydenies the Paisians any political consciousness isawae of the signs and gestues by which day by daythey establish a common identity: hey use slapstick toebuff the cannons o they shackle the Royal powewith witticisms. hey punish the monach by thei

silence o else padon him with applause hey willwithhold "Long Live the King if they ae displeased othey wll ewad him with thei chees he people ofthe Hales have an uneing instinct in these mattes.

,

oweve this lively state of balance is not alwaysmaintained hose who devote themselves to obsevingand pedicting the city's eactions ae often confounded

by the city itelf hey list its capices its sulks andoccasionally its ages hey know that beneath thisgeat tanquil body thee also lie distubing hiddenfoces.

Is it cuel o is it kind? It only needs a tie to tip thescales and fo the peaceful suface to cumble It could

be a bead shotage e o ood fea and umouunning though the steets a festivity o a ght. henthe shadows deepen the highlights become shaplyaccentuated and Pais totally dees desciption At suchmoments the town emeges fo what it eally is: asatuated space a tangled web ofhuman beings embed


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ntroduton 3

ded bu cosay shifig ad eusive he oe ooge speaks of Paisias bu of he cowd he popu-ace which seies he sees o weak is ow havoc

Hee we wi aemp o eae he eves of oe suchepisode I is he soy of a evo which ue o heaue of a such epos is made up pay of ope akad pay of seces I 175 he peope of Pais ose upagais hei ues ad he poice ad accused hem of

abducig hei chide who wee disappeaig wih-ou ace he accusaio was shockig ad exemeyseious I was aso uique ad amos biae which isdoubess why he episode has ieesed may hiso-ias befoe us he soy seves o emid us ha heceuy which headed he iumph of easo aso

uued he SaiMdad covusioaies he seachfo he phiosophes soe ad he spead of mesme-isms wodes his was he ea fo a kids ofexpoa-ios ad spiiua joueys O aohe eve howevehis upisig ca aso be see as a expessio of heambiguous eveyday eaioship exisig bewee hepeope ad pubic auhoiy ehid is damaic move-

mes he evo eveas a se of beiefs vaues aciosad eaioships aisig fom he expeiece of odi-ay daiy ife he episode was uique bu a he sameime mudae

he ow of Pais peses a bued image ad heupisig adds a eeme of cofusio which ompi-

caes he picue si fuhe Neveheess we havechose o sudy he eves fom he exs which eaehem ad by he coses possibe examiaio of heachives wich si e us he soy of a evo e doo expec o gai ay addiioa eaiy fom hischose fom of myopia o a geae coseess o


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4 ntroduton

the stoys potagonists On the contay we hoped toachieve a cetain sense of displacement by adopting this

appoach Convesely at othe times we have chosenthe moe distant view in ode popely to place theevent in the seies which gives it geatest signicancehese two appoaches both of which involve a seiesof diffeent vaiations of scale wok in opposite diec-tions hey eveal diffeent famewoks and highlight

diffeent aeas but ae nevetheless complementayhe second appoach seeks to establish a context inwhich the ebellion can be placed and fully examinedhe st on the othe hand focuses on those mys-teious elements which fom pat of all such stoieselements which esist genealization and typology andae pehaps ultimately incompehensible e wanted

toacknowledge this unknown quantity to which thesouces kept dawing us back we did not want to beintimidated by it but wished athe to use it to ouadvantage in an attempt to gasp the essence of that tous most disquieting phenomenon the ationale of acowd in the gip of fea and ange

Fom the confusion of evidence that makes up thisfagmented elusive stoy we have tied to captue ac-tions and manifestations at thei vey moment of incep-tion when the eld of possibilities is still wide open andbefoe any xed signicance has become ascibed tothem Even befoe establishing a compehensie inte-

petation of the episode these seemingly andom ac-tions suggest that a scenaio of conict aleady existedAll involved in the events act out thei paticula oles asthough they ae simply impovising on a vey familiasituation e hoped to eveal the nomal social fame-wok its values and its maks of ecognition all of


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ntroduton 5

which may be discerned through the exaggerated criesand estures of the uprising here is no doubt that therevolt acts as a magnifying glass enlarging and distorting the picture of ordinary everyday life Neverthelessthe characters in the story are instinctively able to weavetheir own inventions into the common pattern thatgives them form and signicance We have attempted todistinguish the outlines of prevalent social assumptions

beyond the logical processes at work in this rebellion


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Th Landscap 0 Rvolt

In May 1750 Paris was in a state offever Once again thetown had become affected by the number of its poorFor severa months the chronicers had been recording

the aiy mounting tension in the city. wo yearsearier in 17478 famine had again struck throughoutcertain regions of the kingdom driving onto the highways the usua stream of starving vagrants many ofwhom ended up in the capita. hat did they hope tond there? Probaby nothing specic: some crumbs of

the capitas weath a job a ucky break or perhapssimpy contact with other peope iving ike themseves on the edge However their very presence wasburdensome enough to provoke anxiety and disapprova:ramps ayabouts rascas and other vagabonds are congregating in pubic paces on the embankments and in other parts of town to pay cards or ba

games Some of them pay the stick game smashingwindows and street ights

Underying the inactivityand mischievous games of the ide it was reay theirdangerous gregariousness that provoked such disapprova hese direputabe types were occupying space ais to which hey had no right

7


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8 The andsape o Revol

The poblem was not new, no wee the solutonspoposed b the authotes. nce the end of the MddleAges, an mpessve asenal of epessve measues hadbeen n exstence and had been emploed to the full ntmes of css. New powes had been added to these,whch allowed the polce to clea the steets of vagantsb chagng and mpsonng them and even sometmesputtng them to compulso wok. The oal edct of

1749 added nothng new to these establshed sanctonsEquall establshed was the antagonsm felt b thepeople of Pas towads ntefeence b the aches andexempts (constables)*. The actons nvaabl led toskmshes when the cowds sded wth the vagants andcame to the ad Between Decembe 1749 and Apl

1750 the epessve measues deploed seem to havebeen enfoced wth patcula gou These weematched b the Pasans no less decsve esponse anddung those ve months, fteen volent euptons'occued wth nceasng fequenc A umou beganto spead though the town that the polce wee notonl aestng vagants, but that chlden, too, haddappeaed, and that some paents had had to pa aansom fo them. At ths pont the umou was stll sofant that the contempoa dasts pad t lttle atten-ton, although the wee eve alet to the dal catalogueof lls n the ct. The affa was not et nteestng Itbecame so, abuptl, n the month of Ma 1750.

On 1 Ma, n the Fauboug antLauent, a goup ofabout twent oung people wee plang besde theguttes. Fathful to hs nstuctons, basten e Blanc,constable of the Watch, aested sx of them to make an

*Exempt: this was the term used during the Ancien Rgime for the lowestranking police ofcers and has been translated as 'constable.


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The andape oRevolt 9

example of them' The chlden wee between 13 and 15

eas old As soon as people began to eale what washappenng, the whole neghbouhood became alamed.The ncdent was wtnessed b some soldes of thegarde ran{ae who egaded t as seous enough tostep n and oppose the aest wods wee dawnThee was some jostlng, some confuson, a few n-jues Howeve, the ofces of the Watch managed to

load the chlden on a wagon, whch took them to theChtelet pson The skmshes between the pole andthe soldes multpled dung the next few hous and nfact the clashes must have gone on fo seveal das On16 Ma, the lawe Babe nall noted n hs da

Fr a week nw ele have been saying that licecnstables in disguise are raming arund varius quarters f Paris abducting children bys and girls frmve r six years ld t ten r mre and lading themint carriages which they have ready waiting nearby.These are the children f wrking families and theswh are allwed ut and abut in the neighburhd

either running errands r ging t church Since thecnstables wear civilian clthes and since they visitdifferent areas the business did nt make much f a stirat rst

On the same da, the eve of Pentecost, one of thosecaages was gong along the ue des N onnans

dHes The vehcle was full of aches wth a constable n chage and the dd not pass b unnotced Awoman holdng a chld b the hand ced out thatthese ascals wee onl lookng fo a chance to abductpeople's chlden Ths led to a ot on the spot and, allthe odna folk of the dstct havng joned n, the


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1 The andape o Revolt

fell upon the aches and teated them wth the utmostcuelty In fact the aches wee foced to seek efuge nthe esdence of Commssone de Rochebune wheethe Watch had come and eleased them to safety Theepsode left one dead and seveal njued The mpotantpont was that the ncdent had nvolved the wholedstct fom the Maas to the Temple and was a cleaexpesson of people's fustaton. Anythng to do wth

the polce was lable to unleash fea and ange One ofthe aches, who ad hdden n a bee mechant's shop,ovehead the muttengs of the women seachng fohm: One of them's stll hee, the dog. We'll get hm!He must de When he appeaed they shouted, "Theehe s! and ted to attack hm'

uspcon was lable to fall on anyone, at any mo-ment The followng day two peaceful passesby weeseed by the cowd and beaten up at Les Pocheons.The only cme was that of beng stanges n theneghbouhood.

That evenng, eveythng was posed to eupt nto avey seous stuaton and yet stll nothng was gntedThe whole town was afad but people wee stll busyamng themselves aganst the kdnappes. Postesappeaed on the walls, placed by schoolmastes wanngfamles to be vglant Paents ae waned not to allowthe chlden to go to school alone but to accompanythem and collect them fo we can take no esponsblty

fo the consequences, The acolyte who taught the

chlden of the poo n the pash of antGevas hadonly twelve of the eghtyve pupls he nomally ex-pected each day, and those twelve wee shakng wthfea'. Hee and thee people oganed themselves.Foty yeas late the glae Mnta stll emembeed


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The andape o Revolt 1 1

that his father came to fetch him from school with

seven strong cooper lads each carring a crobar overhis shoulder Everone had a stor to tell and Pariswas all ears.

It was into this atmosphere of fear and suspicion thatthe revolt trul exploded on 22 and 23 Ma. It did noterupt in one place but in various scattered areas of thecit, ordinar districts where people lived and workedThe locations are probabl not signicant in themselves;the were contingent on random minor incidents suchas a child who thought he or she was being followed, apolice sp being recognied, the passage of the WatchViolence was read to erupt everwhere at the slightestprovocation. Clashes between the people and the forces

of order happened abruptl like ashes of temper. Thetown ared up sporadicall in intermittent bursts without ever breaking out into total rebellion.

On 22 Ma, six serious confrontations shattered sixdierent quarters of Paris. There was no point of contact between them but in each separate district, on both

sides of the river, the scenario was more or less identical The onl variables were the sie of the crowd andthe gravit of the events . From morning till night thesedistricts erupted in turn t JeandeLatran cloisters, theFaubourg aintDenis, the rue du GrosChent, in theMarais, the porte aintMartin district, the carrefour dela CroixRouge on the Left Bank and nall, the Pont

NeufThe beginning was alwas the same a street scene

interpreted instantaneousl and collectivel In one case,a disabled veteran from Les Invalides who had cele-brated his leave b getting drunk, forced a street musician to pla the hurdgurd outside the collge des


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QuateNations That was enough fo some to c,

Hes no soldie, hes one of those constable ascals indisguise come to kidnap the childen! The cowd ofonlookes, who had been amused b the soldies anticsup to that point, then huled themselves at him intend-ing to lnch him. The onl safet la in ight. In allthese confontations people wee pepaed to downtools instantl at the sound of the ve st shout.

evants wee summoned to windows and uged tocome down and oin the chase and the whole steet wasimmediatel given ove to the hunt. If a thie wascaught, he was at once attacked with sts, sticks ostones The fugitive had onl one chance, to each aplace of safet this usuall meant a police commis

siones esidence. Even if he succeeded in this, he wasstill not home and d because his pusues would thenla siege to the house and demand that he be deliveedto them Occasionall, as happened at the FaubougaintDenis and the Pote aintMatin, an ofce of theWatch managed to estoe calm b easoning with theiotes Moe often, howeve, violence pevailed Thecowds which, accoding to the police, sometimesnumbeed fou o ve thousand people, boke win-dows, foced doos down, stoned public buildings andansacked local shops fo weapons to ght with Natuall, thee was also some looting but in onl one casedid mattes go futhe. eveal dozen oung people left

the ghting in the ue de la Calande at the Pont Neufand tied unsuccessfull to beak into the amouesshops on the Pont aintMichel. One witness was lateto conm that the ouths wee houting that theneeded guns immediatel to kill those villains. Theiotes wee slow to dispese and peace had still not

etuned to Pais b 3 oclock the next moning.


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The andcape oRevol 13

The evolt aed up agan eal the followng da

atuda 23 Ma the eve of the feast of the HolTnt. Ths tme events wee concentaed n onedstct of the Rght Bank encompassng the pash ofantRoch between the antHono maket and thePalasRoal. The evolt lasted all da and wth nceasng volence The polce achves and legal documentsdeal wth the events as the occued and consequentlwe know ve lttle about the ntal ncdent that setthem n moton It would seem that a constable calledLabb ed to take an eleveneaold chld fom thePont Mae The scene was wtnessed b a dumme ofthe garde ran{aie who ased the alam. A cowdmmedatel ushed to the scene and feed the chld

whle the ofces of the Watch managed to escape Butfo Labb t was the begnnng of a long potactedchase whch ended that evenng n hs mude.

He led hs pusues towads the antHono maket hs home gound; hee he hoped to nd potectonIt was a bad move He was ecogned and followed

almost mmedatel. Labb managed to escape the o-tes twce befoe nall beng coneed n an attc oomwhee he had hdden unde the bed The Watch avedon the scene just n tme to save hm fom beng lnchedand he was taken to the neab esdence of Commssone de la Vege whee a statement of the aest wasto be pepaed But the cowd wee not satsed and thescene tuned to confuson ome tme late befoe theexamnng magstate the Commssone gave hs ownveson of the extemel tense stuaton whch he descbed n bueaucatc pose

Having descended ur sudy we hen asked he

ulace wh had gained enry wha he maer cn-


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The andape o Revolt

cerned We were infrmed ha his individual had ha

mrning arresed a cerain wmans child Therefreafer having ld he cers f he Wach leave hesudy dr en we asked if anyne knew he wmancncerned whereun several ersns relied hasmene had gne fech her We answered in such away as be clearly heard by a large crwd in hesewrds 'My friends I will deliver jusice and cmmi

his individual risn They aeared be saisedwih his and nhing unward was said r dne in urhuse r curyard As we had seen an agiaed crwd frm ur windw and as we had bu en fcers f heWach resen we ld ne r w f he said fcersincluding he sergean relay he ele in hesree ur inenin cmmi he individual risn

Hwever he sergean rered back alms immediaely ha he ulace in he sree wuld n lisen andwaned nly kill he individual wh had beenbrugh befre us and having undersd ha heywere werless he fcers f he Wach clsed hecarriage gaes which he crwd hen se hemselves break dwn Several f hse wh had brugh he

individual befre us hen bade us g u ur livingquarers saying ha hey wuld be srry if any mishawere befall us which wuld cerainly be he caseshuld he ulace succeed in frcing an enry Frmur aarmens we saw ha he crwd had brkendwn he carriage gaes as well as hse f he winemerchan nex dr which gave access frm he sree

ur curyard in which hey were nw hrwingsnes The Wach were hlding he ele a bay byining heir baynes a hem and seeing ha heywere hus revened frm enering smene in hecrwd red w shs frm beneah he gaes TheWach red ne sh a hird sh came frm he crwdhen he fcers red w mre shs which succeeded


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The andape o Revolt 15

in scattering the crwd and diffusing their vilence Thefcers f the Watch had taken the man int ur studyrir t escrting him t risn when the crwd freniedly tre him frm their hands whereun the smallgru f fcers erceiving that they were helless andbelieving their lives t be in danger withdrew t neside We heard later that the individual tre himselfaway frm the crwd but was recatured in the rue

Saint-Rch where he as beaten and stned tdeath

The mude of Labb dd not howeve mak the endof collectve vengeance. Hs copse was dagged befoeLeutenant Geneal Bee's house. Bee was theman esponsble fo the polce n Pas and the Kng hadchaged hm wth the task of ddng the ct of vagants. The cowd wee pepang to ca out anothesege but the magstate eluded them b escapngthough hs gaden. At that pont bgades of the Watchaved n foce and ths pesuaded the otes to abandon the plan. But the wee stll not satsed. That

evenng when the aches caed the vctm's bod tothe mogue on a ldde the cowd followed them all thewa n watchful mockng slence.

At the end of ths da of volence the authotesseem at last to have ealed the gavt of the stuaton.At Vesalles the duc de Lunes assduous choncle of

the mnutae of cout lfe ecods the event almosteluctantl between the ntgues of the cleg andaccounts of the Kng's huntng Thee have also beenseveal upngs n Pas ove the last few das . . . ' .

The choncles thus began to teat the events moeseousl. Wthn the space of two das the matte hadbecome ugent. The Govenment was anxous and


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could no longe teat the affai as a matte puel fo thepolice.

Howeve, Pais was supisingl calm o unda 24Ma. ightsees went to walk aound the scenes of theupising, the pesece ofthe Watch not being enough todampen thei cuiosit. It was no longe a time fo ovetviolence But that evening, towads 10 oclock, a smallgoup of people gatheed in the ue Bout du Monde

unde the windows of the laundess Loains house.he had been Labbs mistess and he had lived theewith he. As a eminde pehaps that the mudeedconstable had been deied the last sacaments, a deisivefom oflitug was enacted in the steet. B the light ofa wood e, the slit a cats thoat then followed a

tavest of eligious ceemonial. The animal was blessed with wate fom the gutte, the De Pround andbera o wee sung, and the cacass was thown intothe ames amidst jees and theats against all police spieswho could well end up like this cat.

Thee followed a kind of postbattle lull duing whicha tall was taken of those dead and injued in the eventsof Ma. Patisans on both sides began to blame thewok of agitatos fo the toubles. The police set towok to compile a dossie and wee soon efeing to agoup of bandits fomed with the expess intention ofwhipping up the people. Thee wee mutteings eve-whee in town against police inspectos and thei spies

and some names began to be mentioned. The abductionumou was still stongl pevalent, in fact it eveneached the sububs Vincennes, Bagnolet, Vit andaintCloud whee, accoding to Inspecto Roussel, fafom fading out, these seditious umous a, athe, onthe incease.


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The andcape o Revolt

Mattes emaned unsettled. On 24 Ma the Leuten

ant Geneal of Polce, the Kng's Lawe and the FstPesdent of Palament held a meetng n a attempt toestoe calm The had ve lttle oom fo manuvesnce the had to deal wth the effects of the dstubancesand the putatve causes at one and the same tme Theda afte the meetng, Palament ssued a ulng whchampl demonstates the nheent ambgutes of theaffa One of ts membes, councllo vet, waschaged wth conductng a theefold enqu. Hs befwas to nque nto the evolt tself and whee theesponsblt fo ts volence la nto those who hadspead false umous about odes to abduct chldenand wee consequentl esponsble fo the vaous emo-

tons asng fom ths umou'; nall, and almostncdentall, to nque nto the possble exstence ofkdnappes Also a sees of publcode measues weessued that wee desgned to estoe calm to thecaptal

Ths document was equvocal to sa the least, snce t

attempted to deal wth a malcous umou whle at thesame tme pesupposng an undelng tuth to thesto Palament's ulng had necessal to be a wdeone, because t had to meet the contadcto expectatons and anxetes of both the authotes and the peopleof Pas befoe openng the wa to the judcal pocessThe evdence whch was gatheed togethe fom that

pont untl the begnnng ofJul nvolved not onl thosedectl mplcated n the events o the aftemath but awhole netwok of othe wtnesses ncludng anxouspaents and chlden Ths mass of evdence povdes thebulk of the nfomaton avalable to us toda about thewhole affa. 8


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The andape o Revolt

an o Ro

Here then is an account of the Paris uprising of 1750 toadd to those accounts already in existence. The storycan be simplied or embellished with fresh detail at will.This account is honest and veriable against the sourcesyet it is necessarily deceptive since the very nature of

such an account introduces an element of order andcoherence to the fragmented events of the actual revolt.Working from a chronological framework inevitablyimplies a narrative order, a chain of events which appearto fall into a logical pattern with a beginning and an end.No matter how minimally this seeming order is im

posed in the telling of the story, it is actually profoundlyalien to the true experience of those days in May 1750The real protagonists of the events had the usual mopicvision of those closely involved in a battle or rebellionand saw very little beyond their immediate surroundings The most serious problem is that by its very naturethe true tale ofthe rebellion cannot adequately be told. Itis easy enough to imbue the events with meaning in factvarious interpretations were suggested at a very earlystage. But those incidents, which rose like bubbles in apond to disturb the calm surface of Paris, have alwaysdeed effective description.

Indeed some contemporary reporters saw no neces

sity for detail. The Amterdam Gazette of 29 May laconically informed its readers of the events in Paris. Nothingin this brief report indicates the true scope of the revoltand details were clearly perceived as unimportant. Thepolitical lesson to be drawn had already overtaken theevents themselves:


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The andape o Revol

PrsI My 7

Th King having rurnd frm Chisy n Friday isback day and will snd hr days hr. Th Qunhas nirly rcvrd frm h cld which has indissd hr fr sm days.

PrsI My 7

19

Th ublic urisings which hav bn aking lac invarius ars f h caial wr causd by fals rumurssrad by malicius individuals bn n disurbing hublic ac by assring ha sm l had bnrdrd kidna childrn Ths ris lasd unil hrd f his mnh whn h Firs Prsidn wn Vrsaills fr an xrardinary Cuncil ming whichwas hld in h rsnc f h King On h 5h

Parliamnbing hn assmbld h Cur issud h

fllwing rdinanc: [h x f h rdinanc is hnqud in full].

Th King wh wn Chisy n h 4h isrurning Vrsaills ak ar in h rcssin fh fas f h Hly Sacramn.

The Amedam Gazee account stresses the mainten-ance of order It retains no fact or circumstance of theuprising itself but only the imputation which justiedthe legal action to be taken by Parliament On 2 Junethe Meue Hoque e Polque which was publishedin Paris by people close to the authorities, gave anapparently quite dierent version of the story Under

the customary ctional guise of a correspondence theaccount of events was able to be more informative

Public anin in his wn has rcnly bn fcusdn an urising h caus f which was ngligibl buwhich culd hav ld disasrus rsuls had masursn immdialy bn akn surss i. Th crul


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reckless manner in which lice cnstables were abduct

ing children frm the streets fr n aarent reasnrvked a rit near the Pnt-Marie which sread likelightning t the rue Saint-Antine Frm these twbusy ulated areas the urising then sread intadjacent streets and sn ractically the whle twn wasinvlved. As ele are all t ready t cmmit aalling excesses n such ccasins the least f which is

lting lawabiding lcal inhabitants clsed their shsand huses and stayed at hme Twenty squadrns fthe Watch bth ft and hrse were unable t disersethe rebellius crwd withut resrting t ultimate sanctins They were frced t en re; ne man was killedand a den were wunded The rit then began t bequelled a rcess which was nally achieved by the

arach f nightfall and the dubling f atrls Thematter was taken u by Parliament and at the KingsCuncil

The report is perfunctory and biased but it has all thehallmarks of exemplary tales chronicling the marvelsand miseries of the times that frequently appeared in

pedlars leaets and pamphlets a handful of true' factsstories of police oppression a recognizable locality,details of dubious information used to put esh on thebones of what could basically be an account of anyuprising, anywhere The correspondence in the Meruredoes not state what actually took place but sketches ageneral image of rebellion, then adds a few extraneousdetails for verisimilitude And why would anyone wantto know more? What could they learn? The journalistconcludes casually, ome ordinances and decrees wereissued concerning the uprising but I will not give youdetails of these or of subsequent events unless you havea great desire for further information, in which case you

must let me know '


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The andcape o Revolt 21

The newspapers ere n a hurry Also they were

often controlle at least nrectly by the poltcalpowers an n fact many newspapers omtte to reportthe events at all We can also look for nformaton at theother en of the spectrum at grassroots level The amof the jucal nqury uner the recton of Parlament was to elct straghtforwar accounts from all

those people postvely ente as havng been presentat the scene of the troubles Ths nformaton provesanother verson of events It s a pecemeal accountsubject to nterruptons by wtnesses an the rectonof the examnng magstrates questons Furthermoret s partcularly fragmente because t s manly compose of snatches of nformaton gleane from n

vual accounts whose plethora of etal ame to confuse rather than clarfy

The wtnesses took care whenever possble to ssocate themselves from the events Arenne Boucher ashmonger was at the QunzeVngts market on 23May an not eny havng wtnesse the brawl he

amtte to havng seen Labb whom she notentfy appear wth hs face covere n bloo wearnga re jacket or sut He escape own an alleywaybeyon the butchers shop the people chasng hmsurge nto the market place whch was very crowe. The etals are precse the scene has the rng of truth.But as soon as the magstrate aske hs next questonWhat happene to the man?' she appeare not to haveseen anythng whch s plausble nor to have knownanythng about t whch s less so he smply chose notto say any more. he not see hm come out of thehouse because she was too busy gettg on wth hertrae n safety 20 Ths same evasve tactc was use by

ClaueJoseph Frzon a young apprentce who wtnes


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sed gimpses of Labbs death scene. He certainy saw

that Labb was being attacked but it horried him toomuch so he went on his way returning not long afterthe man was dead and he saw the corpse being draggedto Monsieur Berryers house.

It was a simple poy the less one had seen, the less onewas invoved Joseph Jacquet, a coachman accused ofhaving joined in the disturbane in front of Commissioner de Rochebrunes residence, adopted te simplestpossibe tactic: he decared that he had not done anything nor had he seen any of the turmoi and emotionsof Paris and even in the rue aintHonor itsef he hadonly seen a corpse Occasionally the witnesses were aitte more subte in that they admitted to having been

there but were not abe to identify anyone present. Thatwas the stan taen, for example, by the laundressMarieFran


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The andape o Revolt 23

narrative: He went down to see what was happening

and heard tell that this man had stolen a child He onlyfollowed the crowd and heard tell that the man washiding in a laundresss house He had not knownanything about the uprising but that all the marketwomen were talking about it he had heard in thewashhouse that the woman Eustache The accountis composed partly of traditional wordofmouth street

gossip and partly of a mass of random detail all throwntogether with no attempt at classication or orderEverything was given equal value and it is clear thatsome of the statements were only included because ofthe obvious desire on the part of the police to revealadditional information that might only appear after

doublechecking all the statements later Neither is thereany discernible order within individual accounts Thestory is built up from a succession of vignettes whichwere either true or presented as such The accountdrawn from these statements remains fragmented and isnever completely tied up into one coherent whole

Different levels keep appearing and occasionally a detailof gesture or colour whose meaning is not immediatelyclear leaps out as though suddenly magnied Thesewitnesses accounts have the same characteristics ofspontaneity and cunning as a street rumour or the echoof the city itself with its disjointed mixture of truth andhearsay

There is one other important source of informationcoming as it were halfway between the press reportsand the eyewitness accounts: this is to be found in thecontemporary diaries and chronicles The best and mostprolic of the chroniclers were d Argenson and Barbier


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who recorded and commented on the events of therevolt as they were happening The affair was notsimply an item of news for them but prime material fortheir work. The dismissive indifference of the journalists was not for them on the contrary, they fed offminute details And in contrast to the eyewitnesses, thediarists never left their desks. Far from being blinkeredby the immediacy and proximity of events, their clear

and more or less avowed intention was to provide acoherent picture of those days of confusion and to drawa lesson from them The chroniclers drew on a richvariety of sources whose distinctive traces reappearthroughout their writings They set their pace by theinput of fresh information which constantly altered or

completed the picture as much, if not more than therhythm of the events themselves This inux of newinformation led to a rather breathless style, slightlyreminiscent of the gossip sheets. News reaches mefrom Paris . . . ' . There is a rumour that . . ' . We havejust learnt . . . ' . Yesterday some people told me . . Ihave seen some letters . . ' . The diarist relied on theselatest items of information and changes in the situationand the constant amendments lend veracity to the storyThe writer often adopts certain stylistic devices such asthe use of the indenite or stock phrases such as it issaid that ' to imbue his chronicle with the eetingauthenticity of a news item

Style alone does not provide solutions, and the diarists too were hard put to it to offer a coherent account ofthe revolt. The marquis d' Argenson lived through theevents at a distance. Geographically he was some dis-tance from Paris during the events of May on hiscountry etate where he managed to keep himself fully


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The Landcape o Revol 25

informed having he advanage of a broher who was

he Miniser for Police DArgenson was also a adisance poliically This grea philosopher lord saw heviolence in he capial as an illusraion of he ruh of hisown opinions Since reiring from public ofce afer abrief spell a he Minisry for Foreign Affairs he former miniser had one overriding obsession: he denun-

ciaion of wha he scahingly called he regime' Hecould no nd words harsh enough o use agains LouisV's spendhrif anarchy' or agains he King and hisreign of decepion' Sufce i o say ha d'Argensonwas all oo ready o inerpre he uprising as he beginnings of a far more radical upheaval. Some ime laerwhen discussing he general disconen permeaing he

kingdom he urned his houghs owards he GloriousRevoluion of 1688 and prophesied: All he elemensare volaile. A disurbance can become a rebellion and arebellion oal revoluion

Neverheless he wasraher oo obsessed by he inexorable course of evenswhich he was convinced was imminen o be able o

explain wha was happening before his eyes When icame o i his srongly opinionaed man was capable ofsrange vacillaion.

6 May News cmes frm Paris that there have beenfrequent urisings since my dearture esecially n therd f this mnth when there were as many as fur n

the same day and they are all t d with sme childrenhaving been arrested. It is quite incmrehensible.

By 27 May he seems o have formulaed his ownexplanaion of he affair The people are sill convincedha he consables are aking heir children and here arerios in all four corners of Paris and simuaneously in


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26 The Landcape o Revolt

the centre. ' The marquis certainly had no great regard

for the people, but who is to be believed?

8 May N ne seems t want t believe that thearchers did nt in fact arrest any children and that thewhle thing is a gment f the shcked and utragedeles imaginatin. Astnished questins are beingasked n all sides Why wuld children be arrested in

the rst lace? Why shuld they be taken rather thanablebdied men and wmen caable f ulating theclnies? On the ther hand hw culd ele believe itif there is n truth at all in the stry? Wh wuld inciteand rvke such frequent widesread riting?

Three days later he heard that the rioters had been

manipulated by some people ranking above the populace', but he did not give the theory much credence; Icannot begin to explain the mystery On 1 June, herecords as noteworthy that the people have not ceasedghting, looting and shouting for one moment. Disturbances in the past have always ceased for a few hours

around lunchtime but not this time.

,It is clear thatd'Argenson was determined to exercise his critical facul

ties freely in the matter, but in fact he did so to verylittle effect The events of which he remains one of ourbest sources of information appear to have left himunusually indecisive. It is almost as though he werehampered by his own knowledge and became so involved in trying to unmask the powerful forces movingin the shadows behind the street demonstrations that hedid not manage to formulate a constructive account ofthe revolt itsel

Barbier too displays a similar hesitancy and yet he isan altogether different kind of witness For fortyve


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The andape oRevolt 2

yeas this paliamentay lawye specializing in legal

consultancy kept a Pais chonicle He was a geatnotable and had access eveywhee, paticulaly to theChtelet and the Council Chambes onic and scepti-cal, he had a passion fo news and tuned his talents toaccumulating an extaodinay sociological knowledgeof the city He was equally nonplussed by the events,yet he had been the st to spot what was happening atthe end of 19 People have been abducted fom thesteets of Pais ove the last month ' which is not tosay he was convinced by the stoies suounding theaests: t is one of the people's faiytales ' Babieknew fo seveal months that something was going onin Pais but he was neve able to assess the aai

popely o to distinguish between umou and fact. nhis jounal, he fequently changed diection on the samepage One minute he was disinteestedly epotingevents They say that in Pais constables in disguise aeoaming vaious disticts ', then in vitually the nextpaagaph he was obviously accepting the stoy as fact

Today, Satuday moning of the 16th of the month achild was delibeately taken fom the ue de Foucy andpot aux Veaux distict '

Babie's diay following the events' developmentswas witten along the lines of an ofcial inquiy Hisseach fo the tuth poduced new and often contadictoy details evey day. The diaist was attempting to

encapsulate the events fo posteity but he neve decidedon one nal vesion As a citic he wanted to distinguishthe tuth fom the meely plausible and the plausiblefom the unthinkable, but both the abductions and theevolt emained enigmatic to him He found the abductions incompehensible Thee is no way of unde


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28 The andcape o Revolt

standing it ' The revolt threw all his knowledge of thecapital into question: The incident is particularly extraordinary since the people of Paris are usually mildand quite peaceful Such troubles have not been seen forforty years, not even durin the years of high bread

. pcesO all the contemporary witnesses, Barbier provides

by far the fullest, most coherent and detailed account.

He lists the factors leading up to the events and probablyknew as much as could be known about the wholeaffair. Yet, for all that, his account is founded onuncertainty, lacks organization and fails to draw anyrm conclusions.

Thus from one source and another the essentially

untellable story of a street commotion is unfolded withnobody knowing quite what to say about it all It isunderstandable that the events of 1750, though negligible when compared with other momentous events,3have so intrigued both contemporaries and the historians who came after them


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2

Ordes in the City

On the whole thee is a geneal consensus of opinion insociety as to the impotance of peace and public odeand the themes ae constantly aied in continuous,

loquacious public discouse Both values ae constantlybeing invoked by the police, the govenment, the cowdand individuals alike and ae geneally poclaimedto be indispensable to the smooth functioning ofany society pupoting to be exemplay This ishoweve a delusion, since peace and ode ae liable to

be theatened at any given momentFo the fact that thee is geneal ageement on thenecessity fo maintaining peace and ode does not meanthat individual epesentations of these concepts aeequally unanimous Although the common aspiation isa shaed one conicting inteests in the city give ise toa vaiety of peceptions of ode and disode which aesometimes complementay but mo often in opposi-tion to each othe t only needs an atmosphee of fea topevail o an accidental uptue of the suface equanim-ity and these divisions become patently obvious Oneincident can povoke ival and sometimes violentlyopposed eactions Indeed two such incompatible ve

29


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3 Order n the ty

sions of public ode took shape and came into conictduing the days of May 15 The authoities peceivedthe upising as a menacing disuption by the vey natueof its existence, wheeas the eople saw it as an attemptto eestablish ode afte the disuption caused by thepolice. These intepetations ae opposite and yet bothin a sense ae tue. The most peceptive commentatos,in paticula the lawye Babie, attempted to espect

both points of view.In eality the oigins of the upising date fom long

befoe 150. Since the end of the seventeenth centuythe authoities esponsible fo public ode had beenconcened at the spectacula gowth of the city's shiftingpopulation. In 12, a gue of 9,000 beggas was

mentioned in 150, 15, In an effot to halt thisominous tide, legal measues fo cleaning up Pais wee.

multiplied. The shee numbe of these edicts and odinances implies that they wee ineffective, but the pesistence of the authoties in issuing them shows thatthey wee compelled to do something in the face ofunacceptable eality. The method of dealing with this

uncontollable mass of people was simple. Dastic ecommendations fom the police, which have been kepthandwitten, asseted the need fo opeations of election and discimination.

Selection and discimination: the wods suggest theugency of the situation but theein also lay the pob

lem Once the vagants had been picked out and isolatedthei fate had still to be decided. Expulsion would onlyid the capital of them in the shot tem since theywould soon eappea in Pais. The standad punitivesanctions of pison and the galleys seem to have oeeda vey limited solution, possibly because these options


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Order in the ity 3

wr unouar in a ocity that flt ronib for it

oor. Thi fling of guilt might ao xlain why thmajor rriv maur at th bginning ofth ightnth cntury thr imortant dict in 2 and on ordinanc in hould hav madtntativ mov toward introducing an mnt o ocial aitanc into th oitic of arrt Thr wa for

xam th attmtd rhabilitation of vagrant by thtablihmnt of ublic workho a hand aftrth trribl wintr of whn a arg inux ofbggar dcndd on a city alrady xhautd byfamin and dia Howvr on hould not ovrtrth lmnt of ocia concinc inc th tatutorydcr conitnty xhortd workr mrchant and

rvant not to offr rotction to th oorThr wa on othr oution to th roblm and thi

ought to xtract th gratt oib bnt for thkingdom from th ituation Why not u th oatingouation a rcruit to ouat and xloit th Amr-ican coloni? Th ida of comuory migration took

ha during th Rgncy and wa articuary romin-nt throughout th yar of havy colonial invtmntin Law tim a Controlr Gnra In an dictdraftd by th Nava Inctor d a Boullay roodth dortation of all ablbodid vagrant andbggar In th foowing yar th Bictr ion aongwith vra othr drw u a it ofundirab for thattntion of th olic Vagrant wr not th ony onto aar on th lit which ao faturd contrabandatmrchant and othr guity of fraud rotitutand al kind of young dlinqunt In Novmbr an ordr wa iud to th contabuary urging thm toact with zal o that th ing may nd al tho t to


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32 Order n the ty

b of u to th cooni'. Anothr dcaration of 1719

nt furthr wight to th intntion bcau it gavudg th owr to nd a tho undr ntnc of thgay to rv in th cooni intad Many of thowho f into thi catgory wr rving dtntionordr and incudd formr arntic craftmn and aarg numbr of young o Th dicriminationthat wa initiay uod to hav bn xrcid wathu oon forgottn Undr th wight of rurxrtd both by th adminitration and th buincommunity th drtation movmnt wa on thoint of going out of contro In 1720 th cnario ofchid abduction and ubqunt uriing wa briynactd for th rt tim and thirty yar atr th

mmory of it wa ti aivTh caita wa aarmd not o much by th rr-

iv maur in rinci but rathr by th xcivza with which thy wr carrid out: Thy wrtaking a ort of o ndrmnately It wa thi ackof dicrimination btwn o' tatu which xitd

vn at th owt v of ovrty that wa cauingth gratt anxity throughout Pari Evrywhr thrwr tori of chidrn bing abductd or of forcdmigration to Amrica In Ari 1720 an uriing tookac againt th archr who wr taking a ort ofo indicriminaty'. Thr wa grat rntmnt atth cauan of th oic who nthud by th r

ward offrd by th Comagni d Ind oftn didnot vn bothr to obrv th baic ga formaitiand wr thu n to b vioating common humanright Pariamnt crt counci mting at th timacknowdgd thi ouar rntmnt Th owr vry bittr againt thm and with good raon


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Order n he y 33

inc it i an infringmnt ofibrty not to b ab to t

foot out of door without bing arrtd and nt toMiiii , Th gnra aarm wa ufcinty grat for a nw roya ordinanc to addr th robm ovr

th foowing wk and try to rtor a mbanc ofordr acctab to both faction Aftr thir arrtvagrant wr to b qutiond by a oic ofcr bforthir futur wr dcidd Th archr on thir artwr to rform thir duti in ubic ony in brigadundr th command of a contab and in uniform Thifragi baanc did not rtor condnc for ong btwn th o and th oic nor did it uccd intabihing any commony acctab ground ru

Thu a ituation ofatnt crii burting intrmittnty

into vionc wa tabihd in Pari Th factor of throbm wr to rmain unchangd throughout th atcntury of th Ancin Rgim Th town did not cato attract wandrr and vagrant who cam from farand wid hoing for a rfug om incom or faiingthat th comanionhi of othr outcat Nd to

ay uch ho wr dahd mor oftn than not Thrnc of thi vrincraing rvading anonymoumutitud which wa grudgingy acctd undr nor-ma condition bcam intorab whn tim wrhard articuary whn darth izd th caita in itgri in 125 126 and again from 138 to 11. Evnth rumour of a grain hortag a in 18 wa aonnough to ow th d of anxiy Govrnmnt andoic aard to b owr in th fac of thi thratThy wr out of thir dth and vaciatd btwnvra oib contraditory oution which thythn ut into ffct imutanouy aitanc comuory abour dortation and abov a imrionmnt


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3 Order n the ty

Smingy incaab of dciding on on oicy th

authoriti aowd th bruta miga maur totak thir cour and in th roc robaby uccddmor in antagonizig th o of Pari than in intimidating th bggar

Th dict of 12 Novmbr 19 houd b n in thcontxt of thi ovra background of annuay mounting incurity It coud at at caim th virtu of carityin it bruta dirctn: Hi Mty command that abggar and vagrant found in th trt of Pari bthy in church or at church door in th countryidor urrounding ditrict of th caita of whatvr agor x ha b arrtd and takn to rion thr to bdtaind for a ong a ha b dmd ncary Th

ton of th documnt i harhy rriv and th ca toordr go byond th caita to ncoma th whocountry Th marqui dArgnon wa haf arovingyt notd ardonicay in hi journa: Th ordr hagon out to arrt a th bggar in th kingdom atonc Th contabuary ar to tak action in th ro-

vinc jut a in Pari whr thy ar ur th vagrantwi not raar inc thy wi nd thmv urroundd on a id 4 Athough th maning of thdict wa rfcty car th mthod authorizd tocarry it out wr far o and ft a grat da toindividua intrrtation and imrovization

Th man in charg ofxcuting thi grand dign wa

mor notd for hi za than for hi cru. ThLiutnant Gnra of Poic Brryr wa on of thmarqui d Pomadour cratur and had bn intad by hr in 1 H wa a nw man a man ofowr inont hard bruta H raidy bcamhatd not ony for hi own ak but bcau h ao


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Order n the ty 35

rctd om of th contant vocifrou hotility

dirctd at hi patron th allpowrful Royal FavouritSh had wantd th poition to b occupid by a manwho wa ntirly hr. Thi man wa compltly d-votd to hr which mad him odiou to th gnralpublic from th tart. 5 NicolaRn Brryr wa altogthr too concrnd with diplaying hi nrgy and thcincy of hi adminitration in high plac and m

conquntly to hav mijudgd th cop and paramtr of hi tak.

H wantd to achiv intant tangibl rult and tothat ffct h had put a nw tam togthr within day.Without conidring th poibl conqunc h pronally dirctd th inpctor and contabl to act fat

and dciivly in th mattr Hi poition mad himvirtually allpowrful th polic hnchmn wr ntirly at hi pronal bck and call and workd onlywhn th Liutnant wih to mploy thm Latrduring th ofcial inquiry on of th am policmnwa to dclar: A man mut work or di of hungr Brryr wa wll awar of th powr invtd in himand wa alo adpt at playing on hi mn grd. Whnit wa uggtd to him that th contabl hould bpaid at a at rat intad ofby th numbr of arrt hiarh rply wa: That would b work t for canon Idont want incur I only part with mony whn thgood ar dlivrd. During th ofcial inquiry Fail-

lon a cavalryman of th Watch wa to xplain that hgav Moniur Brryr a daily account of th prviouday captur and that if th had inadvrtntly includd individual with family and xd abod MoniurBrryr far from admonihing him would approv ofhi action a it wa apparntly prfctly in ordr to


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36 Order n he y

arrt chidrn of artian or bourgoi aying in thquar. '

Th ttimony of th mn who actuay carrid outth ordr unanimouy afrmd th ruthn of thoration and th vry mn m to hav bn thmot nitiv to th oib conqunc of uch aoicy Indd mot of thm caimd to hav xrdthir rrvation at th tim athough it houd b

born in mind that thy wr robaby jutifying thmv bfor th magitrat by aying a bam on thLiutnant Gnra of Poic Som of th mn whinot utimaty rfuing to oby ordr had nvrthtrid to cur thir futur oition in th mattr. OnDanguiy for xam mad hi daughtr k a not

book in which h ntrd a th dtai of hi arrt inca h vr had to giv an account of thm in court.

Howvr th Liutnant Gnra ao had to jutifyth trut acd in him by th Court and h woud toat nothing to achiv rut. It i oib that h mayhav mirad th ituation and mitakny but incrybivd that ubic arobatio wa bhind him Aftra for month h had bn rciving comaint fromarnt who dinqunt chidrn wr byond contro actuay aking th oic to xrt thir authority.During rcnt yar th voum of tition and dtntion ordr had bn tadiy incraing Brryr mayw hav mad an rror of judgmnt in faiing to

rcogniz th normou dirnc btwn th individua king th h of hi ovrign' atra owrin oving domtic robm and th arbitrary imoition of unjutid indicriminat vionc by th oicand thir occaiona coaborator on th trt of Pari.Th uriing of 150 wa born out of hi rofoundincomrhnion.


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Order in the ity

Trouble Unleashed

3

From th momnt of th vry rst signs of disturbancthr aros two distinct and conicting concts ofordr ach having its own intrnal logic and dsitthir oosition both sharing a vision Naturally achcam blamd th othr From th Parisians' oint ofviw childrn should not b abductd undr any cir

cumstancs not vn in th nam of th law Tholic on th othr hand uhld th viw that not vnth libration of th childrn and th unishmnt ofthos rsonsibl for thir arrst justid rvolt againstth ings authority. Ths two oosing viws aroshowvr from a shard rction of disrution and

th blif hld by both artis that lif in th city shouldb acful and harmonious Th actions and constantrsnc of th olic in th caital throughout thightnth cntury wr always motivatd by thirdsir to maintain this harmony. His Majstys loyalsubjcts shard th sam concrn for ac and tranquillity Thrfor any rutur of this common asirationmust rforc b du to malicious xtrnal inuncsTh city aard to b undr thrat.

Th olic not only took action to qull and surssagitation but rortd at lngth on thir actions bothvrbally and abov all in th form of coious lsrorts mmranda and nots scribbld in margins

Ths commntaris ranging i styl from livly todstrian trs to loquacious all srv to build u aictur of th vnts within which ach incidnt has itsown lac and signicanc. It is through this varidolic commntary that th obscur daily rutions ofviolnc bgin to tak sha and o b sn as art of a

far mor widsrad lot justifying rrssiv countr


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38 Orders n the ty

maur Th oic wr trying to hd ight onincomrhnib mt and to that nd thy convincd thmv that thir vrion of vnt wa thcorrct on Bing working rofiona rathr thanarmchair xrt thy ao ndd to furnih thirthori with oid roof inc thir job wa to roducfact ading to conviction Th oic intrrtation ofth 15 uriing thrfor comri not ony th

vnt thy witnd but quay what thy cho tobiv to b th undrying truth that rducd thincomrhnib outburt of vionc to th v of arauringy ordinary rott

Thir baic rmi wa that diordr cannot xitwithout omon bing guity of cauing it Th oic

knw rfcty what had nragd th o ofPari and for th mot art thy fry admittd it omof thm vn going o far a to dor thir coaguaction Howvr thi wa rary ut forward a a vaidxanation for th rvot Sinc in thir viw coctiv aggrion and trt vionc coud nvr b ju-tid in thmv thy drw on a owrfu t of

unhakab bif to xain th cau of uch aituation On of th trongt of th thori wa thatif ac wa undr thrat and vionc unahd it hadto b th work of maign forc intrating th ociabody in Pari Th forc of aw and ordr had awaybn quick to rcogniz th rniciou invadr

Oe thg I am told whch I ca hardly beleve s that atthe heght of the dsturbaces there were three orfour dvduals pretedg to be druk who werehadg moey out to people sayg Here my fredshere are sx fracs go ad buy some broom hadles toattack these rascals wth. If that were true t meas there


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Order in the ty

were secret leaders to the sedto. Oly tme ad

further formato wll reveal the truth of the matter 8

39

Dit hi carful wording rocutor Guulttwho rcordd thi rumour of 23 May did not havmuch faith in th xitnc of mn in black' uodlymrging from th hadow to lad th uriing

Guultt wa an xrt on Pariian law and ordr anaiduou commntator on lgal affair and th authorof a vry full mmoir of th vnt of ring 1750which wa furnihd with many rthand account.Clarly h wa not convincd by th nigmatic rncof tho archtyal agent provoateur who wr almottoo rfct and crtainly too luiv to b crdibl.Howvr nithr did h bliv that th ol wouldrut into violnc without bing ld to it and h lookdfor th rtrator in what from th vidnc mdto b th liklit lac.

Firtly among th vagabond and rotitut who hadbn th rt victim of th 179 dict and who con

quntly nurd a grudg againt th olic: Thr waom raon to biv that a crtain numbr of roguand villain many of whom had bn arrtd and taknt SaintLoui had dcidd aftr thir rla to takrvng on th contabl and archr by accuing thmofabducting childrn to roulat th colonial iland '

Th bad al' wr only th ti of th icbrg of acriminal undrworld whic thrivd on civil diordrand activly ncouragd it Guultt' hyothi hadth virtu of imlicity and wa rdictably conrmdby many graroot itm of information InctorRoul wa working on th ot nd kt hi y andar on although h alrady knw what h wa look


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0 Order n the ty

ing for On th vning of 23 May h wa drawn to a

otntiay troubom gathring of o in th rud Ptit Cham: Thy ay it a tartd with ondinqunt aying "Look thr on of tho chidabductor! And a dozn o congrgatd Thu thcrimina undrword wa bhind th uriing crtainybcau thy hod to gain omthing from it Rougo on to ay I otd variou ron in diffrntditrict who a rortd back that ordinary oimagination ar growing daiy and I hav no doubtthat th rumour rading into th countryid arattracting many thiv and rogu to Pari Th crookand rabbrour hav bn tirring thing u andncouraging o' goi for four day now

Crim attractd crim and brd on th vry anxity itowd in th mind of a crduou o If nothingwa don it thratnd to infct th who of PariTh thori wr rooundd again and again to thoint of obion and thy mak it car why thoic binkrd by thir own rconction cho to

crt adr and xrincd rabbrourvrywhr Athough in raity thy fuy undrtood th tru comxity of th affair thy nvrth bcamobd with th ida of a ot Th ida of buidingth good of th o on th bai of trict adminitra-tion of a moray hathy city wa not abandond but itgav way tmorariy bfor th mor urgnt robm

at hand: th uurg of vi in th urban ocity of Parirquird intant rrion

A of a uddn th famiiar imag of ocity bcamcoudd In uhoding thir viion of ubic ordr thoic wr no ongr ab to ditinguih cary b-twn good and bad vi or miguidd motiv Th


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Order n he y 1

uriing wa tratd lik a uddn unrdictabl id

mic that had to b attackd imultanouly on all front.Clarly thr wr crtain grou of ol and articular occuation that wr mor uct than othrTh grou bing by tradition unruly, wr morliabl to inltration by malfactor who could u thmto diminat rumour and violnc throughout th

city. Aftr th diturbanc Inctor Pouot madnquiri in th ru d Clry and ru d Bourbon Itwould b too difcult to inoint th guiltit artiamongt th matr carntr and journymn in thtrt inc thy ar all guilty to om xtnt. Thol hav alway bn rblliou and it would b agood ida to mak an xaml of om of thm in th

ara H addd a not in th margin: It will b hard tond anyon to giv vidnc againt thm inc thy arall in lagu with ach othr and it would b no ulooking for informr Pouot uly did not fabricat thi ida of th olidarity within a articular job orditrict No doubt h had com u againt it bfor in

th cour of hi work and wa in a good oition torcogniz it again But h wa unabl to intrrt oli-darity a anything othr than vidnc of comlicity

All xiting ocial tnion bcam on to rintrr-tation and bgan to b n a lmnt in a widrchm of ubvrion A commonlac incidnt of conict at work turnd our could bcom without anyfurthr roof, a ign of articiation in th uriing On23 May, two workmn, Pirr Tournir and NicolaParat who wr vainly king a wag incra fromthir bo, inultd him and thy cam to blow Thiwa nough in itlf for thm to b arrtd and broughtbfor th intructing magitrat a though th incidnt


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4 Order n the ty

could not oibly b an iolad on but mut in omway b connctd wit th mor widrad dition.

Th tyically confued logic bhind uch a ractionindica that a far a th forc oflaw and ordr wrconcnd th dangr wa no longr loalizd butvirtualy omnirnt throughout th city and th o-l of Pari had to b rotctd againt thmlv.

In thi atmohr of widrad uicion th mot

ntrnchd rjudic rmrgd and cam into thirown. A w hav alrady n th traditionally volatilara and occuation wr highlightd and bcamobviou and convnint targt for uicion. Tholic imagination wa hauntd by hadowy luivgrou of ol. Thir far of ing an inux of

vagrant and dlinqunt into th city wa xacrbatdby thir blif that bhind thi ow of ol thr wcriminal organization that wr far mor of a thrat toocity for bing truly lawl and anarchic. Throbbr band wr both a myth and a rality till owr-fully rnt in ol' mmori. Th nam of thfamou robbr' wnt back in an unbrokn lin to thbginning of th ightnth cntury. In 1750 it wa tillbing notd in olic documnt that a crtain indi-vidual wa uctd of having blongd to Nivt'gang 1728179) or Raat' 17311733). Th gangnvr diaard comltly ithr in fact or fromublic mmory. Th lgnd wa crtainly kt aliv in

amhlt ballad and folktal and th fact that tholic wr till dtrmind to track thm down aftr aga of twnty or thirty yar how that thy till lacdgrat imortanc on th hnomnon of th robbrband which md to dfy th aag of tim.

Why did th gang inir uch far? T thiv


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rders n the ty 43

foowd th fair in ummrtim and in wintr thy

conrgd on th caita whr thy cut ur with thrguarity of aona workr Thr wa nothing ryunuua in that Prha th gang caud uch anxityto th oic bcau thy aard to ha th godwiof th ordinary ouac bhind thm omtim actiy o At th nd ofth 10 Phii Nit cadFanfaron wa ab to ca from th archr ratim with th h of oca o bfor hi nacatur Crtainy by thir ry rnc th robbrmhaizd th undrying antagonim btwn oand oic. Th main robm howr wa that thgang rad a ntwork which aard to b irtuayindtructib No oonr wa on arrtd and mad an

xam than anothr aard to tak hi ac Inctor Rou bing an od hand at mattr concrningubic ordr wa ry awar of th xitnc of thhady comanion who wr contanty rinnting thgrat crimina organization of th at Womn ayda cntra ro in thir ocity No robbr wa without

hi wif mothr itr or mitr Equay rywhor wa attachd to om thif Womn oftn roidd th ony contact btwn bandit who had bnioatd by xi or rion and in thir own way thynurd th uria of th grou Poic intigationwr frqunty dirctd toward th womn Nointrrogation faid to idntify a robbr fma com-

anion whthr th rationhi atd for a day or aiftim No oic raid ignord th mor rnowndrotitut and ickockt girfrind who formd thmot tab mnt of crimina ocity whom thoic trackd down in th ho of bing d on tobiggr ry Th fact that intrrogation of womn


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44 Order n the ty

mutiied abeit unfruitfuy in une and uy 1750 iignicant in that it demontrate that the examiningmagitrate wa ao convinced of the reence of theinviibe underword fo.

Police Misconduct

Throughout the whoe of the judicia inquiry whichoened on the day after the revot the ine of croexamination foowed the baic remie that the crowdwa the guity arty of the May riot. But the witnee'tetimony frequenty uggeted an aternative verion

namey that oice miconduct wa the caue of a thediturbance Simiar argument were ued in uort ofboth thee ooite theorie

ut a the invetigator ought to inoint the ubverive activitie of crimina organization the eoewere ointing to the reence of bad ae' in theoice force and in doing o they were robaby notmitaken. There wa for exame one Antoine Severtknown a Pariien' who had worked for many yearfor the two oice inector Durot and Pouot. Thetwo ofcer worked in tandem and Pariien anweredexcuivey to them being aid 600 ivre a year for hiervice It wa common knowedge that he wa a oice

henchman and y and he wa o deteted that ignicanty ome eoe beieved that it wa he and notLabb who had been murdered on 3 May It i notentirey cear where Pariien' oyatie ay. When akedifhe had not aready ent time in the Conciergerie andChteet rion' he reied that Ye he had been


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Order n he y 45

invovd in th Laand ca and that th aid Laand

who wa a mmbr of th Raat gang had at thintigation of a crtain Pouot chargd him Pariinwith a murdr for which h wa duy imriond Infact h had nvr kid anybody and had not vnknown Laand bfor going to rion and vntuayLaand had bn ut to th wh and confd thatPariin wa innocnt and that it wa Pouot who had

ut him u to making th fa accuation for hi ownrivat rvng W can nvr know th whotruth bhind thi umb of xanation but thy do atat dmontrat that th accuation wa auib inth y of th magitrat a w a tho of ordinaryo It i crtainy th ca that during th Ancin

Rgim a in many othr riod of hitory th oicmad u of informr and coaborator whnvr oib

What of Pouot himf th aymatr of PariinLabb and many othr informr? Th crowd hadarchd in vain throughout Pari for him and hi mnhoing to divr om rough utic a dubiou honourwhich Pouot boatd of to Brryr. During th inquiry witn rfrrd vra tim to hi gang Thtrm i unambiguou and by imication ab Pouot bhaviour a aw. On mmbr of hi tam wahi mitr Gnviv Dion cad La Marcha . Shwa a rformd hif who had bn rcruitd by th

oic and ut in charg of ying on iga amoondar and of th urvianc of rotitut Dion hadnvr drawn a car in btwn th ractic and rvntion of crim and brought a th mthod of hrrviou activity to hr nw on: vionc backmaiying and xtortion Sh had th owr to incarcrat


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6 Order n the ty

o or ra hm from rion a hr ronawhim. For xam h onc ord o ra awoman namd Gnviv Pommir who had bnimriond for ing forbiddn yh if h woudagr o bcom a av o hr aur a Marchawa vnuay o bcom a vicim of hr own inadambiion and viciou ai. Manwhi hr infamou acivii and ho of hr acoy wr com

mon knowdg and acd h ruaion of hwho oic forc Whn Labb wa bing houndd byh crowd on 3 May i wa in h buiding whrPouo and hi mir had ivd h yar bfor hah ough rfug hoing o nd frind and rocionhr Morovr i wa h had mmory of La Mar

cha gang ha urrd h crowd o hun Labbdown o hi air 4Thu h oic had hir own unavoury characr

and dubiou nwork rad hroughou h ciy andhy wr no abov uing mhod which wr undoubdy abu of hir owr

Wy wr chidrn bing abducd from h r ofPari? A w hav n hr ar vra oib andfrquny conradicory anwr o h quion Bu ina h hori h oic mrg a h rraor andcan in om ca b hown o hav bnd from hcrim in a vry dirc mannr Th conab wr aidon a bouny ym for hir caur Sbain L

Banc who wa chargd on h day afr h rioinformd h xamining magira ha h wa aid forarr on a r caia bai Twv franc ou of whichh had o m a incidna xn uch a hiringvhic and archr o whom h aid fn o ach and ha hr wr im whn h wa f ron

1,,,j


54/153

Order n the ty 47

ay out of ockt 5 Th going rat wa ow and m

to hav inird om of th oic hnchmn to forcth ac and xcd thir arady harh ordr in uruitof bonu. And th vnaity did not to with tharrt Thr i abundant vidnc from arnt whohaving bn artd by th oic found thir chidrnin rion and had omtim to ay dary for thirra Margurit Simon aw hr on takn with twoaymat bfor hr vry y in th Pac Roya anddit njoying th rotction of a ariamntary councior took a fortnight and ftyv o to cur hirafrom rion addd to which h had to ay forhi food throughout hi dtntion Gorg Bachviir a matr buttonmakr ao had to wait two

wk bfor curing th ra of hi ftnyarodon who had bn nt on an rrand. H aid thirtyixo to gain ntry and four ivr ixtn o for hira' in it of which th youth nt hi tim inrion ing on traw and caught cabi from whichh i ti not curd'. Barthmy Luca wa forcd to

borrow mony to cur hi chid ra aftr vntn day in rion. A in a thr wa a trong aumtion which wa hard by th magitrat that vrammbr of th oic forc wr motivatd by rotinto than cruuou xcution of thir duti.Councior Svrt for on wa aarnty convincdthat th contab had a cia arrangmnt with th

crk at th Chtt rion athough h coud notrov t.

Irrguariti within th oic forc though riouwr in no way xctioa. Thy wr robaby ancary mchanim in th functioning of an adminitrativ body which wa nvr adquat to it tak


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48 Order n the ty

dit th rtigiou rutation which it hld

throughout ightnthcntury Euro If thi uncruulou bhaviour uddnly aumd uch rominncit wa not that it wa a nw hnomnon in itlf butthat in 1 750 it cam to b n in a dirnt light and a amnacing ymbol of a nw olic ordr

Thu far w hav bn rfrring to th olic forc aon homognou unit whra in fact it wa comodof two arat ntiti who balanc wa hifting atthat tim On branch of th forc wa comod ofcommiionr who wr magitrat in charg of thgnral adminitration of articular ditrict in Pari andcam undr th dirct authority of Parliamnt Lawnforcmnt and crim urion wr only a mall

art of thir work a thy wr wll known to vryonin thir ditrict and ol turnd to thm ontanouly for hl in ttling th ordinary conict of dailylif Th commiionr authority wa rmly rootd inthir knowldg of th community

In contrat to th locally bad olic wa th rla

tivly nw body of mn tablihd at th bginning ofth ightnth cntury by th thn Liutnant Gnral ofPolic d Argnon fathr of d Argnon th minitrand diarit Thi branch of th forc anwrd to a vrydiffrnt dcrition both in it function which warimarily rriv and in th ty of mn mloyd.Thi body of olic inctor had bn cratd in 1708

and cam undr th dirct authority of th LiutnantGnral who rcruitd and rmunratd thm a hwihd. Th olicmn wr not in charg of articular ditrict but cializd rathr in cic iu ofublic ordr. Thy wr omnirnt in th city andinltratd vn th humblt lvl of ocity Thir


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Order the ty 49

activiti wr boh crt and a ubjct of common

knowldg Thy and thir i wr to b found invry tavrn tairway and markt lac Thy oratdthrough a whol ntwork of collaborator whom thylct and aid at will Thi ytm nabld olicintllignc to inltrat far dr into th town incthir informr wr oftn ordinary mmbr of th

community who blndd into th background Thgrowth of th y ntwork coinciding a it did with anincra in th numbr of olic ofcr in th rt halfof th ightnth cntury bcam th ugly fac of autoian viion of omnicinc Th olic had dramt ofbing abl to know all th crt containd in th citywhich would thu bcom rvald to it

Th gnral ublic rntd th incrad olic rnc and wr anxiou at th ight ofth inctor andthir hnchmn taking ovr mor and mor of thfunction of th original olic At lat bfor thy hadbn abl to idntify thwart and if ncary ghtagaint th familiar intitution Th archr of th

Hital Gnral for xaml had traditionally bnchargd with th arrt of bggar and had frquntlybn in confrontation with th oulac bcau of itik th undrworld th nw brand of olicmn wructd of all kind of dihonty and with goodraon Th commiionr had bn warning thLiutnant Gnral for month about th growing fl-ing againt th nw olic It wa a watd ffortNicola Brryr dubbd th infamou Moniur Burrir [Mr Buttrman] followd hi natural inclinationtoward vn tightr control and mor rriv maur and h harhly incrad th rur withoutconidring th conqunc Hnc th ordinanc of


57/153

50 Order n he y

Novmbr 149, which did not diffr in nc from

any rviou giation xct that th xcution of thaw wa ntrutd thi tim to th hand of th hatdnw branch of th oic Brryr wa dtrmind touccd H rcruitd mor mn, gav thm tir ordrand urgd thm to b ctiv At that oint thrur bcam intorab Th od, famiiar connu which had formd around th maintnanc of ordr

wa hattrd Th o wr at oggrhad with aoic forc which thy no ongr conidrd heroic

Did o ray biv that th arrt of vagrant,od or young, markd th rt ign of gnra rrion in th caita? It i hard to ay for ur, but

Brryr' xciv ambition mak it crdib If youngvagrant and th chidrn of artian and mrchantcoud b takn indicriminaty, thn nothing wa cur an anything bcam oib Th vionc of thrvot wa a ron to th oic' mibhaviour


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3

The Rules 0 Rebellion

Aftr th uriing Barbir wa to commnt:

Some examples wll have to be made otherwse o theoe had there would be a rsk of allowg morewdespread sedto ad o the other had t would bedagerous to allow all that dsturbace to go completelyupushed as t would be a admsso to the peoplethat they have potetally eormous power They certaly had the upper had throughout the whole busess ad had to be very carefully hadled

By 4 May th chronicr raizd that omthing outof th ordinary had takn ac Somthing had bnxrd n th ionc and turbunc and h carycognizd th fact, though h dord it

t i hard to idntify th ignicanc of an uriing orn to dcrib it adquaty inc it i a too ay to

bcom orwhmd by th turmoi and coudd byth ma of uruou dta Thu Tain wa to con-jur magnicnt but hatd mmori ofth rou-tionary mob of 1789 from which Guta L Bon in hiturn attmtd cintic anayi of crowd bhaiourTain wa drin by far to writ a dfnc of ciiiza-tion whra L Bon wa rohying th ag of th

51


59/153

52 The Rule o Rebellon

ma and furnihd rci which wr vnuallyud by twntithcntury olitician. Both writrhowvr blivd that a ma movmnt i only ffc-tiv whn all individual concinc and conct of ordri abandond to th roc of gnral nicationPol involvd in uriing hav no goal othr thanthat of bing togthr. Thy abandon thmlv to thdizzy irrationality which rdio thm to ubmit to

any charimatic ringladr A crowd com into bingimly for it own ak with no lan or xctationbyond th fact of it own xitnc Othr hitorian roo a diamtrically ooit thory and look to thwill of individual involvd in th collctiv advnturof rbllion. Th hitorian ar uually mor in-

trtd in th ocial comoition of th crowd than init bhaviour. Thir thory i that it maning andfunction can only b mad clar by an undrtanding ofit ocial comoition. By following lin indicatd inom rcnt ublication w will attmt in thi workto ditanc ourlv from th two aformntiondthori both from that which rgard crowd b-

haviour a having no ignicanc byond it own xit-nc and from th ida that th dynamic of th vntthmlv can b ignord in favour of a ocial analyiof th crowd W undrtand th rvolt itlf a aritnt a icmal arch for a maning which inot givn at th bginning and which only gradually

rval it tru ignicancIt i ncary rt to dtrmin xactly who tookart in th riot. Th riotr ar uually rfrrd to athough thy wr on collctiv body with word ucha th ol' th crowd' and frquntly th rabbl' .Th trm whil bing univrally acctd and vn


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The Rule o Rebellon 53

mloyd by th iotr thmlv during th inquiry

do not rv to dcrib or idntify any articulargrou of ol. It i not ay to clarify th ocialcomoition ofth uriing not or any lack of witn on th contrary thr i a rlativly lag amount ofttimony but mot of it i biad and ay mor aboutth blif of th authr than anything l InctorRoul rovidd a good xaml of thi intuitivociology in hi account of th vning of23 May whnh cam acro a grou ofol gathrd in th ru dPtit Cham

I asked em wa e problem was ad some old mea some cosables ad ried o arres a cild wile

oers said e cild abducors ad goe io idig ae bakers We we o our way bu i a fewmiues e group ad become muc larger ad wasaracig may servas i paricular wo passed bywiou speakig o us

Should Roul oinion b takn a fact? H crtainly

knw th Pariian cn wll but hi vry knowldgld him too aily into unqutioning attitud H hadth am imul that drov hi collagu Pouot tolook for culrit in crtain cic ditrict and trad .

Roul lo rovidd om rathr mor rliabl

matrial in th form of writtn rort on th intllignc that h dirctd hi informr to gathr in Pari

during th two day following th uriing On th facof it thi rort i a mticulou ic of work Bidach nam h wrot down hi informr' obrvationand a lit of th witn ach had hard. But ditaaranc thi documnt i alo biad. Roul hadnt hi i out to collct information in th tavrn


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5 The Rule o Rebellon

and at togate and other uch ace where any con-veration reorted woud amot inevitaby reinforcethe oice in their beief that the crimina underwordhad had an imortant art to ay in the revot Roueeven introduced for good meaure a grou of witneeto trengthen hi own interretation of event Theewere merchant bourgeoi and honet artian whodeored the turmoi in the treet and the inadequate

number of awenforcement ocer The reort thenturn it attention to the ocia tructure of the mutinoucrowd and ring no urrie in the roe acribed 5

The it ofuect ubmitted to Pariament GeneraProcurator and that of the accued brought before theCourt ceary conrm the contemorary anayi of the

revot Deite the fact that very few name aear onboth it the obviou imication i that the uriingwa the work of that hifting untabe eement of thePariian ouation that had ong been conidered aermanent threat to ecurity No rea crimina weredicovered but at bet a few direutabe feow one ofwhom wa to ay for hi reutation with hi ife Mot

of thoe reumed guity were treet eoe comriinga few beggar ome wandering edar itinerant work-er a hawker a bootback a chair carrier a watercarrier two odier of the Miitia in other word aame of thoe caua job by which o many Pariianurvived on the edge of dire overty By contrat the

it incuded no craftmen nor any women deite thema of evidence that both thee grou ayed a argeart in the event the women in articuar n fact thechoice of uect aready reuoed a certain inter-retation of the revot

Certainy mot of thoe uected or accued had


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The Rule o Rebellon 55

indd bn rnt at th cn of violnc and th

inquiry frquntly conrmd that thy wr in factguilty of th ditiou talk and brutality of which thywr accud But thy all knw that thy had not bnth only on involvd imly th only on to havbn landd in th nt Th good hokrbourgoi nighbour and hont workmn who hadoftn bn th on to dnounc th accud had alohad childrn abductd by th olic. In fact th olidcitizn had bn tho who angr had rt fulld thhu and cry and angry gathring which ignitd achtag of th riot and thy had bn rnt at th motvolatil and violnt cn. But not on of thir namaard in th ocial inquiry xct on Loui

Dvaux a matr lockmith who a w will hadlayd an imortant rol during Labb' catur.Clarly th ol wr rotctd by thir tatu.Thy wr rctabl mmbr of ocity and tholic mad a clar ditinction btwn thm and thmor humbl oulac. Thy wr alo mor artiulat

than bggar and bttr abl to vad thir ronibiliti. But thr i mor to it than that. h fact i thatonc th drama wa ovr and tnion vaoratd thworthy citizn wr anxiou to ut it all bhind thmand align thmlv with th olic vrion of thaffair artly bcau it obviouly uitd thir intrt todo o but alo robably bcau thy found it hard to

idntify with th rvolt onc th hat of angr andmotion had ad. Thy knw vry wll that it wanot only th oulac' who had takn art in thlooting illag and dtruction but aftr th vnt thycould not imagin how thy had bcom involvd inthat any mor than in th ig of th commiionr'


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56 The Rule o Rebellion

ridnc. At th tim thr had rbably bn a

unanimou dir to unih th contabl Labb a anxaml a omon ut it; but in rtroct th wholbuin including th crul murdr in th trt through dnuding of th cor for ouvnir th driory mock xcution bfor th murdrd man houth thrat againt th olic againt Brryr againtth ing wa all comlt anathma to thm. Thbourgoii wr awar that during th hight of thrvolt thy had rubbd houldr with a rofoundlyalin cultur which in th cold light of day thy founddly thratning

W will nvr know th full dtail of tho whojoind th riotou crowd which wa clarly an amalgam

of vry diarat lmnt Evn if w did know morth knowldg would b f littl u inc thr wa noguarant that ol conformd to ty undr thocondition in fact th ooit wa uually th caTh urvyor Langloi for intanc who took art inth turmoil in th ru St Honor on 23 May in th

comany of an uhr and a muician wa undoubtdly apei bourgeoi and roud of it. Nvrhl h wa hardto uttr incrdibl thrat H told hi two comanionthat if thy would accomany him thy would go andkill a contabl at hi hou. And latr in front of twoof Brryr clrk Langloi cnting blood wntfurthr aying that thy mut trat tho racal lik that

villain bing murdrd. Whn th two akd him whyh anwrd "bcau your matr i a coundrl . DidLangloi rmmbr all hi blutr aftr th vnt? Inany ca th magitrat cho not to uru hi arrtvn though h had bn dnouncd Langloi hadbn bhaving out of charactr or rathr hi uncharac

7/28/2019 Arlette Farge, Jacques Revel the Vanishing Children of Paris Rumor and Politics Before the

arlette farge, jacques revel the vanishing children of paris rumor and politics before the french...

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