The Vanishing Children of Paris

Book excerpt: In the spring of 1750 children began to disappear from the streets of Paris as they made their way to school, as they ran errands for their parents, even from the presence of their parents-- no child was safe. Astonishing rumors quickly spread ... In fact, the police had been given sweeping powers of arrest to control the problems of vagrancy; some were clearly abusing that power. An atmosphere of mounting fear and suspicion between the populace and the police erupted in a two-day series of riots which culminated in the lynching and murder of an alleged abductor. The authors use this incident to view broader issues concerning the power of rumor, the logic of mob psychology, and the exercise of authority and the maintenance of peace in Paris under the Ancien Régime.