Problems in the French Republic
15th. The members of the National Assembly have become so scattered that they seldom muster more than 150 in attendance there. They decreed that they would summon back all those who were absent. This decree was enacted but not made public, which proves the scale of the problem. Journalists have been directed only to report news which is disseminated in the Assembly, so the good ones have left their jobs and no one knows what is really happening anymore. The constitution is making progress, there are no bourgeois any longer because everyone is a citizen, and the difficulty in getting hold of bread has returned.
Summary
The summer of 1793 sees France at a critical juncture, and the duchess paints a gloomy picture of morale at the political heart of the Republic. France faces multiple internal and external military threats even as its Revolutionary programme continues apace – including discussions over a new constitution. This entry comes from the section of the Elbeuf manuscript comprising short daily entries rather than the much longer letter entries found earlier in the notebook series.
Date and place of writing
15 June 1793, Paris
Themes
Source
Archives nationales de France, F7 4775/1 ( notebook 6, p. 151).