CHAPTER XII.
This was the second year of the scarcity; in the preceding one, theprovisions, remaining from past years, had supplied in some measure thedeficiency, and we find the population neither altogether satisfied, noryet starved; but certainly unprovided for in the year 1628, the periodof our story. Now this harvest, so anxiously desired, was still moredeficient than that of the past year, partly from the character of theseason itself (and that not only in the Milanese but also in thesurrounding country), and partly from the instrumentality of men. Thehavoc of the war, of which we have before made mention, had sodevastated the state, that a greater number of farms than ordinaryremained uncultivated and deserted by the peasants, who, instead ofproviding, by their labour, bread for their families, were obliged tobeg it from door to door. We say a greater number of farms thanordinary, because the insupportable taxes, levied with a cupidity andfolly unequalled; the habitual conduct, even in time of peace, of thestanding troops (conduct which the mournful documents of the age compareto that of an invading army), and other causes which we cannotenumerate, had for some time slowly operated to produce these sadeffects in all the Milanese,--the particular circumstances of which wenow speak were, therefore, like the unexpected exasperation of a chronicdisease. Hardly had this harvest been gathered, when the supplies forthe army, and the waste which always accompanies them, caused anexcessive scarcity, and with it its painful but profitable concomitant,a high price upon provisions; but this, attaining a certain point,always creates in the mind of the multitude a suspicion that scarcity isnot in reality the cause of it. They forget that they had both fearedand predicted it: they imagine all at once that there must be grainsufficient, and that the evil lies in an unwillingness to sell it forconsumption. Preposterous as these suppositions were, they weregoverned by them, so that the speculators in grain, real or imaginary,the farmers, the bakers, became the object of their universal dislike.They could tell certainly where there were magazines overflowing withgrain, and could even enumerate the number of sacks: they spoke withassurance of the immense quantity of corn which had been despatched toother places, where probably the people were deluded with a similarstory, and made to believe that the grain raised among _them_ had beensent to Milan! They implored from the magistrate those precautions,which always appear equitable and simple to the populace. Themagistrates complied, and fixed the price on each commodity, threateningpunishment to such as should refuse to sell; notwithstanding this, theevil continued to increase. This the people attributed to the feeblenessof the remedies, and loudly called for some of a more decided character;unhappily they found a man that was willing to grant them all theyshould ask.
In the absence of the Governor Don Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordova, who wasencamped beyond Casale, in Montferrat, the High Chancellor AntonioFerrer, also a Spaniard, supplied his place in Milan. He considered thelow price of bread to be in itself desirable, and vainly imagined thatan order from him would be sufficient to accomplish it. He fixed thelimit, therefore, at the price the bread would have had when corn wasthirty-three livres the bushel; whereas it was now as high as eighty.
Over the execution of these laws the people themselves watched, and weredetermined to receive the benefit of them quickly. They assembled incrowds before the bakers' houses to demand bread at the price fixed;there was no remedy; the bakers were employed night and day in supplyingtheir wants, inasmuch as the people, having a confused idea that theprivilege would be transient, ceased not to besiege their houses, inorder to enjoy to the utmost their temporary good fortune. Themagistrates threatened punishment--the multitude murmured at every delayof the bakers in furnishing them. These remonstrated incessantly againstthe iniquitous and insupportable weight of the burden imposed on them;but Antonio Ferrer replied, that they had possessed great advantages intimes past, and now owed the public some reparation. Finally, thecouncil of ten (a municipal magistracy composed of nobles, which lasteduntil the ninety-seventh year of the century just elapsed,) informed thegovernor of the state in which things were, hoping that he would findsome remedy. Don Gonzalo, immersed in the business of war, named acouncil, upon whom he conferred authority to fix a reasonable price uponbread, so that both parties should be satisfied. The deputies assembled,and after much deliberation felt themselves compelled to augment theprice of it: the bakers breathed, but the people became furious.
The evening preceding the day on which Renzo arrived at Milan, thestreets swarmed with people, who, governed by one common feeling,strangers or friends, had intuitively united themselves in companiesthroughout the city. Every observation tended to increase their rage andtheir resentment; various opinions were given, and many exclamationsuttered; here, one declaimed aloud to a circle of bystanders, whoapplauded vehemently; there, another more cautious, but not lessdangerous, was whispering in the ear of a neighbour or two, thatsomething must and would be done: in short, there was an incessant anddiscordant din from the medley of men, women, and children, whichcomposed the various assemblages. There was now only required an impetusto set the machine in motion, and reduce words to deeds; and anopportunity soon presented itself. At the break of day little boys wereseen issuing from the bakers' shops with baskets on their heads, loadedwith bread, which they were about to carry to their usual customers. Theappearance of one of these unlucky boys in an assembly of people waslike a squib thrown into a gunpowder mill. "Here is bread!" cried ahundred voices at once. "Yes, for our tyrants, who swim in abundance,and wish to make us die in hunger," said one, who drew near the boy, andseizing the basket, cried out, "Let us see." The boy coloured, grewpale, trembled, and would have entreated them to let him pass on, butthe words died on his lips; he then endeavoured to free himself from thebasket. "Down with the basket" was heard on all sides; it was seized bymany hands, and placed on the earth: they raised the napkin whichcovered it, and a tepid fragrance diffused itself around. "We areChristians also," said one; "and have a right to eat bread as well asother people:" so saying, he took a loaf and bit it; the rest followedhis example; and it is unnecessary to add, that in a few moments thecontents of the basket had disappeared. Those who had not been able tosecure any for themselves were irritated at the sight of theirneighbours' gains, and animated by the facility of the enterprise, wentin search of other boys with baskets; as many, therefore, as they metwere stopped and plundered. Still the number who remained unsatisfiedwas beyond comparison the greatest, and even the gainers were onlystimulated by their success to ampler enterprises; so thatsimultaneously there was a shout from the crowd of "To the bake-house!to the bake-house!"
In the street called the _Corsia de' Servi_ there was, and is still, abakery of the same name,--a name that signifies in Tuscan the _Shop ofthe Crutches_, and in Milanese is composed of such barbarous words, thatit is impossible to discover their sound from any rule of thelanguage.[4] To this place the throng approached: the shopkeepers werelistening to the sad relation of the boys, who had but just escaped withtheir lives, when they heard a distant murmur, and beheld the crowdadvancing.
[4] El prestin di scansc.
"Shut, shut! quick, quick!" some ran to ask aid from the sheriff; othersin haste closed the shop, and barricadoed and secured the doors fromwithin. The throng thickened in front, and cries of "Bread, bread! open,open!" were heard from every quarter. The sheriff arrived with a troopof halberdiers. "Make way, make way, friends! home, home! make way forthe sheriff," cried they. The people gave way a little, so that theycould draw themselves up in front of the door of the shop. "But,friends," cried the sheriff from this place, "what do you do here? Home,home! have you no fear of God? What will our lord the king say? We donot wish you harm; but go home. There is no good to be gained here forsoul or body. Home, home!" The crowd, regardless of his expostulations,pressed forward, themselves being urged on by increasing multitudesbehind. "Make them draw back, that I may recover breath," continued heto the halberdiers, "but harm no one--we will endeavour to get into theshop--make them keep back, and knock at the door."--"Back, b
ack," criedthe halberdiers, presenting the but-ends of their arms; the throngretreated a little; the sheriff knocked, crying to those within to open;they obeyed, and he and his guard contrived to intrench themselveswithin the house; then, appearing at a window above, "Friends," criedhe, "go home. A general pardon to whoever shall return immediately totheir houses."
"Bread, bread! open, open!" vociferated the crowd in reply.
"You shall have justice, friends; but return to your houses. You shallhave bread; but this is not the way to obtain it. Eh! what are you doingbelow there? At the door of the house! hah! hah! Take care; it is acriminal act. Eh! away with those tools! take down those hands! hah!hah! You Milanese, who are famous throughout the world for yourbenevolence, who have always been accounted good citi---- Ah! rascals!"
This rapid change of style was occasioned by a stone thrown by one ofthese good citizens at the sheriff's head. "Rascals! rascals!" continuedhe, closing the window in a rage. The confusion below increased; stoneswere thrown at the doors and windows, and they had nearly opened a wayinto the shop. Meanwhile the master and boys of the shop, who were atthe windows of the story above, with a supply of stones (obtainedprobably from the court-yard), threatened to throw them upon the crowdif they did not disperse. Perceiving their threats to be of no avail,they commenced putting them in execution.
"Ah! villains! ah! rogues! Is this the bread you give to the poor?" wasscreamed from below. Many were wounded, two were killed; the fury of themultitude increased; the doors were broken open, and the torrent rushedthrough all the passages. At this, those within took refuge under theshop floor; the sheriff and the halberdiers hid themselves beneath thetiles; others escaped by the skylights, and wandered upon the roofs likecats.
The sight of their prey made the conquerors forget their designs ofsanguinary vengeance; some rushed to the chests, and plundered them ofbread; others hastened to force the locks of the counter, and took fromthence handfulls of money, which they pocketed, and then returned totake more bread, if there should remain any. Others, again, entered theinterior magazines, and, throwing out part of the flour, reduced thebags to a portable size; some attacked a kneading trough, and made abooty of the dough; a few had made a prize of a bolting cloth, whichthey raised in the air as in triumph, and, in addition to all, men,women, and children were covered with a cloud of white powder.
While this shop was so ransacked, none of the others in the cityremained quiet, or free from danger. But at none had the peopleassembled in such numbers as to be very daring; in some, the owners hadprovided auxiliaries, and were on the defensive; in others, the ownersless strong in numbers, and more affrighted, endeavoured to compromisematters; they distributed bread to those who crowded around their shops,and thus got rid of them. And these did not depart so much because theywere content with the acquisition, as from fear of the halberdiers andofficers of justice, who were now scattered throughout the city, incompanies sufficient to keep these little bands of mutineers insubjection. In the mean time the tumult and the crowd increased in frontof the unfortunate bakery, as the strength of the populace had here theadvantage. Things were in this situation, when Renzo, coming from theeastern gate, approached, without knowing it, the scene of tumult.Hurried along by the crowd, he endeavoured to extract from the confusedshouting of the throng some more positive information of the real stateof affairs.
"Now the infamous imposition of these rascals is discovered," said one;"they said there was neither bread, flour, nor corn. Now we know thingsjust as they are, and they can no longer deceive us."
"I tell you that all this answers no purpose," said another; "it willdo no good unless justice be done to us. Bread will be cheap enough,'tis true, but they will put poison in it to make the poor die likeflies. They have already said we are too numerous, I know they have; Iheard it from one of my acquaintances, who is a friend of a relation ofa scullion of one of the lords."
"Make way, make way, gentlemen, I beseech you; make way for a poorfather of a family who is carrying bread to five children!" This wassaid by one who came staggering under the weight of a bag of flour.
"I," said another, in an under tone, to one of his companions, "I amgoing away. I am a man of the world, and I know how these things go.These clowns, who now make so much noise, will prove themselves cowardsto-morrow. I have already perceived some among the crowd who are takingnote of those who are present, and when all is over, they will make upthe account, and the guilty will pay the penalty."
"He who protects the bakers," cried a sonorous voice, which attractedthe attention of Renzo, "is the superintendent of provisions."
"They are all rogues," said a neighbour.
"Yes, but he is the chief," replied the one who had first spoken.
The superintendent of provisions, elected every year by the governorfrom a list of seven nobles formed from the council of ten, was thepresident of the court of provision, which, composed of twelve nobles,had, with other duties, that of superintending the corn for thecitizens. Persons in such a station would naturally, in times ofstarvation and ignorance, be considered as the authors of all the evil.
"Cheats!" exclaimed another; "can they do worse? They have had theaudacity to say that the high chancellor is a childish old man, and theywish to take the government into their own hands. We ought to make agreat coop, and put them in, to feed upon dry peas and cockleweed, asthey would fain have us do."
While listening to such observations as the above, Renzo continued tomake his way through the crowd, and at last arrived in front of thebakery. On viewing its dilapidated and ruinous state, after the assaultjust sustained, "This cannot be a good deed," thought he: "if they treatall the bake-houses in this manner, where will they make bread?"
From time to time, some were seen issuing from the house, loaded withpieces of chests, or troughs, or a bench, basket, or some other relic ofthe poor building, and crying, "Make way, make way!" passed through thecrowd. These were all carried in the same direction, and it appeared toa place agreed upon. Renzo's curiosity being excited, he followed onewho carried a bundle of pieces of board and chips on his shoulder, andfound that he took the direction of the cathedral. On passing it, themountaineer could not avoid stopping a moment to gaze with admiring eyeson the magnificent structure. He then quickened his steps to rejoin himwhom he had taken as a guide, and, keeping behind him, they drew nearthe middle of the square. The crowd was here more dense, but they openeda way for the carrier, and Renzo, skilfully introducing himself in thevoid left by him, arrived with him in the very midst of the multitude.Here there was an open space, in the centre of which was a bonfire, aheap of embers, the remains of the tools mentioned above; surrounding itwas heard a clapping of hands and stamping of feet, the tumult of athousand cries of triumph and imprecation.
He of the boards threw them on the embers, and some, with pieces ofhalf-burnt shovel, stirred them until the flame ascended, upon whichtheir shouts were renewed louder than before. The flame sank again, andthe company, for want of more combustibles, began to be weary, when areport spread, that at the Cordusio (a square or cross-way not far fromthere) they were besieging a bakery: then was heard on all sides, "Letus go, let us go;" and the crowd moved on. Renzo was drawn along withthe current, but in the mean while held counsel with himself, whether hehad not best withdraw from the fray, and return to the convent in searchof Father Bonaventura; but curiosity again prevailed, and he sufferedhimself to be carried forward, with the determination, however, ofremaining a mere spectator of the scene.
The multitude passed through the short and narrow street of Pescheria,and thence by the crooked arch to the square de' Mercanti. Here therewere very few, who, in passing before the niche that divides towards thecentre the terrace of the edifice then called the College of Doctors,did not give a slight glance at the great statue contained in it ofPhilip II., who even from the marble imposed respect, and who, with hisarm extended, appeared to be menacing the populace for their rebellion.
This niche is now empty, and fr
om a singular circumstance. About onehundred and sixty years after the events we are now relating, the headof the statue was changed, the sceptre taken from its hand, and a daggersubstituted in its place, and beneath it was written _Marcus Brutus_.Thus inserted it remained perhaps a couple of years, until one day, somepersons, who had no sympathies with Marcus Brutus, but rather anaversion to him, threw a rope around the statue, pulled it down, and,reducing it to a shapeless mass, dragged it, with many insultinggestures, beyond the walls of the city. Who would have foretold this toAndrea Biffi when he sculptured it?
From the square de' Mercanti, the clamorous troop at length arrived atthe Cordusio. Each one immediately looked towards the shop; but, insteadof the crowd of friends which they expected to find engaged on itsdemolition, there were but a few, at a distance from the shop, which wasshut, and defended from the windows by armed people. They fell back, andthere was a murmur through the crowd of unwillingness to risk the hazardof proceeding, when a voice was heard to cry aloud, "Near by is thehouse of the superintendent of provision; let us do justice, and plunderit." There was a universal acceptance of the proposal, and "To thesuperintendent's! to the superintendent's!" was the only sound thatcould be heard. The crowd moved with unanimous fury towards the streetwhere the house, named in such an evil moment, was situated.
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