' Vr,"<+d///(-i'- UNIVERSITY ()| CAIIIOUNIA \l LOS ANC.IIIS i i IN MUMORIAM BERNARD MO ' -' . HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE ADMIN IS TRATION O F Mr. N E C K E R. ** ^m *^m HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION O F 1 } Mr. N E C K E R. WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. TRANSLATED FKOM THE FRENCH. AC PLERIQUE SUAJM IPSI V1TAM NARRARE, FIDUCIAM POTIUS MORUM, QUAM ARROGANTIAM ARBITRATI SUNT. TACITVS. tmmmmmmd I i V d , * ' ' LONDON: Printed for G. G. J. and J. ROBINSON, Paternofter-Row. M DCC XCI. H3 HISTORICAL REVIEW OF THE ADMINISTRATION, &c. TH E unfortunate victim of repeated in- ftances of injuftice,of which the annals of hiftory can furnifh few examples, I felt all the weight of the mod bitter recollections, without at the fame time entertaining a wifh to diiTeminate my painful fenfations by means of the prefs. After fo long a feries of public actions, words I conceived were unnecefTary ; and, comparing fometimes my conduct with the ungrateful indifference of the National Aflem- bly, I found in perfect filence a repofe that was pleafing to the pride of my heart. Public opinion, in fhort, I fcarcely know why, is no longer in my eftimation what it was. The B religious - Administration of religious refpect I entertained for it diminifh- ed, when I faw it fubfervient to the artifices of the defigning ; and when I faw it tremble be- fore the very men whom it would formerly have fummoned to its bar, to expofe to fhame, and to brand with its reprobation. 1 am urged however by my friends to purfue a different line of conduct ; but I ftill doubt whether the advice be prudent. They wifh me to recal the attention of the public to my adminiftration ; they wifh me to revive the remembrance of it ; and they forget that in this day of trouble and anxiety all individual interefts are fet afide for thofe of the nation. They tell me that, by a review of my con- duel, I ought to afford my advocates the means of defending me : without confidering that it is not fo much information as courage that is wanted. They tell me, in fhort, of pofterity : and they forget that the empire of the paflions ceafes where that of pofterity begins ; they forget that, in the boundlefs fpace in which fhe has fovereign fway, there are no more decep- tions, no more illufions. There it will be the > province of truth alone to afTign ranks, and to appoint places : it is only among ourfelves, on this theatre of a day, that impoflors can ufurp her Mr. Necker. 3 her rights, and invade for a moment her exalt- ed functions. Meanwhile a powerful motive actuates me. I am obliged to confefs I cannot feparate my caufe from that of reafon and virtue. They are in my opinion allied ; my memory at lead flatters me with this hope; and it becomes me to refped', to the very utmoft, ties which I have formed with fo much care ; it becomes me to refpect them by fhewing that I have not violated them in any inftant of my life. Influenced by this consideration, I fhould think my felf negli- gent of my duty, if, to avoid attracting atten- tion, and in fervile compliance with the petty decorums of rival vanities, I countenanced by my indifference the policy of the wicked and the triumph of the ungrateful. What is an individual in comparifon with thefe general principles ? What efpecially is a man who, like myfelf, approaches the goal of life ? The hour is at hand when he will no longer be any thing to himfelf, but will be in- volved in that eternal filence which finks and annihilates ages and generations. If then he can give confidence to thofe who are difheartened by the iflue of the contefts they have witnefled ; if he can detain them at B 2 the 4 Administration op the moment they are prepared to defert the temple of morality ; if he can even retard their engagement with a new mafter, it becomes him eagerly to accomplifh this purpofe. He ought to a& thus, regardlefs of every other confide- ration, and without being reftrained by the paltry and frivolous pretexts of prudence and perfonal refpect. Why fhould I not confide in the power of virtue ? It is fhe who has twice made me vic- torious over the oppreffions of intrigue, and the difgraces that are experienced in the courts of kings ; it is fhe who has taught me to contem- plate the progrefs of detraction with apathy ; and it is by her influence that, forced at prefent to defend myfelf againft a new fpecies of injus- tice, I feel myfelf unawed by rank or power. The National AfTembly, who have demand- ed of me fo many accounts, will doubtlefs per- mit me to prefent them with one more. Its model is to be found in the Celebrated dialogue between Agrippina and Nero, and its fum- xnary is contained in that well known verfe : Voila tous me s forfeits, en void lefalaire.* I thus point out the divifion of my work : it feems to refer only to myfelf ; but let not * Such are my crimes, and fuch is dieir reward. this Mr. Necker. ^ this firft appearance terrify the reader. I am well aware that, when a man no longer tra- vels the high road of the paflions ; when he can no longer be ufeful to any one ; when, if I may fo exprefs myfelf, he has patted the flood of life ; his day is clofed, and he foon finds the neceflity of being referved in his communications with the world. I therefore promife that, without wandering from my fub- ject, while I anfwer the reproaches of different parties, and endeavour fimply to defend myfelf, I will introduce various difcuffions more gene- rally interefting than that of my grievances. I have ferved the king and the flate feven years, during the courfe of two adminiftra- tions ; and the following are the impreffions which I myfelf retain of my conduct and my meafures. In 1776, when the king entrufted me with the direction of the treafury, I was but little known. I even fcarcely knew myfelf ; for, without expoiing what paries in his mind to the examination of others, a man muft long remain uncertain as to the extent of his talents and the depth of his rcfources. To be con- fident of hiinfelf, it is frequently necefTary that B 3 hs 6 Administration of he fhould derive information from comparing his thoughts with thofe of other men; it is ne- ceflary that he mould make atrial of hisftrength againft the hoftility of events, againft their number and their variety. I had read, I had obferved, I had reflected much; and from my earlieft youth I had exer- cifed myfelf in public affairs, by effectually contributing to invigorate the declining ftate of the Eafl-India company, and by defending the interefts of this eftablifhment againft the attacks of intrigue and the tyranny of mifguid- ed authority. It was then thought that I had rendered an effential fervice to the ftate. I alfo turned my attention to objects which were the peculiar province of ftatefmen, when I difcufTed, in 1775, the principles applicable to the legiflation and commerce of corn. A fervour then prevailed for a fyftem of the moft perfect freedom ; this fyftem was extend- ed to exportation, without fubjecting it to any regulations or reftraints ; and the kingdom be- gan to be alarmed at the fatal confequences that might refult from it. But the philofo- phers of the day defpifed experience, and would attend to nothing but reafonings. My publication tempered their extravagant ideas, 4 b 7 Mr, Necker. 7 by oppofing to them reflections of a ftill high- er origin than the general deductions of the Oeconomifts; and from this period the grand queftion of the commerce of corn was no longer difcufTed with a difdainful fuperiority to practical knowledge, and the principles of ex- perience. We could afterward difpute on v a footing refpecting this freedom, and the limits of which it is fufceptible ; and, in one of the mod interefting of all controverfies, the defpo- tic empire of theory is, I believe, for ever at an end. This was the firft fuccefsful attack upon that philofophic fway whole power has been experienced in fo many different fhapes ; and I rendered at the fame time an elTential fervice to France, a kingdom fo often expofed to great calamities by one year's miftake refpecting the principles of government that were moft in- timately connected with the fate of the people and the public tranquillity. I owed however his majefty's nomination folely to the ftate of abfolute ruin to which public credit was reduced. It had fallen to decay under theadminiftrationof men bred tothelaw; and it was propofed to try what knowledge acquired in a different manner could effect. B 4 The & Administration of The refources however in which I princi- pally confided were equally within the power of every man. They were order, ceconomy, and the application of moral principles to all tranfa&ions of ftate. My only merit was that of perceiving, or rather of ftrongly feeling, that, in the adminiflration of finances, a fimple mode of proceeding and an upright conduct were greatly preferable to all the fubtleties with which men of moderate talents are fo much enraptured. I did not at the fame time neglect the fuc- cours that may be derived from caution, care, and attention ; which, though they cannot fupply the place of efTential principles, may favour and enforce their falutary influence. I was doubtlefs fuccefsful ; fince, in the courfe of the five years of my firft adminiflration, and in the midft of a war that required in one year an extra fupply of one hundred and fifty mil- lions, the public funds, which in England fell from thirty to thirty-five percent, experienced in France a confiderable rife ; and fince all the loans, to which recourfe was had, were filled in thefpace of a fingle week. Thus I reftored the credit of France ; and on this credit, as is well known, depend the fafety Mr. Necker. 9 fafety of the empire in time of war, the pro- tection of the colonies, and the general fupport of the ftrength and power of the nation. It was reierved for that fpirit of innovation by which we are now governed, on all fub- . jects, to cenfure the ufe of credit during the laft war, as if it had been poffible to fupply its immenfe exigencies by means of taxes. I know not what extraordinaries the nation may be able to defray under a government in which {he will herfelf regulate the revenue and the expenditure ; but formerly a refiftance great- ly injurious to public confidence would have been made, if, at the commencement of a war, a third vingt'ihne only had been demanded ; yet this fupply would have amounted to no more than twenty or twenty-five millions. The re-eftablifhment of credit, efTential as it was to the ftate, would have afforded me but an imperfect degree of fatisfaclion, if it had for a fingle day diverted my attention from the interefts of the people, the perpetual objecl: of my folicitude. But, by faving the nation from extraordinary burthens, and fuch as were beyond its ftrength, which the want of credit would have rendered neceffary, I faved it alfo from permanent taxes, that feemed in- difpenfable,. io Administration op difpenfable, in order to balance the annual in- tereft of loans for defraying the expences of the war ; and I was fuccefsful in finding an ade- quate fupply for this increafe of public expen- diture by plans of order and oeconomy. The refult and proof of what I advance have been feen in the Compte Rendu of January 178 1, and in my Treatife on the Finances. I offered to defend this truth againfl: a minifter in power, and in the midft of the afTembly of Notables of 1787 ; an afTembly which he had himfelf felected. The public controverfy into which I have fince been drawn, has left no doubt of the accuracy of the account of 1781. And, as this account has been drawn up by the fame perfon, and from the fame materials, as the general account laid before the States-General in the month of May, 1789, the approbation beflowed on the latter, after a fcrupulous exa- mination on the part of the committee of fi- nance, is an additional argument in favour of the correctnefs of that of 1781. Thus then during my firft adminiftration I took care of the power of the (late, by raifing credit to its higher! pitch ; and I took care of its happinefs, by faving the people from con- tributions Mr. Necker. ii tributions that would have been unavoidable, if credit had not been reftored ; and from an- nual taxes which the intereft of the loans would have demanded, had no melioration taken place at the fame time in the finances. I afk, what was it poffible to do more ? I would not be underftood to rank the bat- tles I have fought for the advancement of order and ceconomy with the complete triumphs ob- tained by the National AfTembly. Not but I might difpute the point of merit with her, were the infinite difference of our fituations to be confidered. The National Affembly has fpoken in the name of the whole people ; has proceeded with all the force of the empire ; and has been attended and fupported by the general wifh : fhe had no need to refpect ei- ther the prejudiced or the powerful; fhe dif- pofed of the property of the nation in the name of the nation ; the obftacles fhe had en- countered with have only ferved to increafe the velocity and energy of her motions ; and the route fhe has purfued was cleared and levelled, as in an inftant, by the mere preflure of the immenfe wheels of her triumphal car. Contrail this prodigious power with the means and attempts of a minifler, who, dif- mayed, 12 Administration o? mayed, as it were, in the midft of a court long eftranged to ideas of order and ceconomy, re- folves to promulgate thefe ideas, and fees him- felf obliged fingly to contend againft a multi- tude. The fortitude which my fituation re- quired can never be known. I ftill recollect the dark and long ftaircafe of M. de Maurepas, which I afcended with fear and dejection, uncertain if I mould fucceed with him re- fpecting fome new idea that engaged my at- tention, and the object of which was com- monly to obtain an increafe of revenue by fome juft but fevere operation. I ftill recollect the cabinet between two floors, which is placed immediately under the roof of the palace at Verfailles, but above the king's apartments, and which, from its diminutivenefs and fitua- tion, feemed to be the very quinteflence of every fpecies of vanity and ambition : there it was neceffary to talk of reform and ceconomy to a minifter grown grey in the pomp and cuftoms of the court. I recollect all the precaution it required to fucceed ; and how, frequently repulfed, I obtained at laft fome indulgences for the public good; and thefe I plainly faw were granted as a recompence for the refources I had difcovered in the midft of war. Mr. Necker. 13 war. I ftill recoiled the kind of fhame that embarrafled me, when I introduced into my difcourfe, and ventured to ftate to him, fome of thofe great moral ideas with which my heart laboured. I feemed then as gothic to this old courtier, as Sully appeared to the young ones the day he was feen at the court of Louis XIII. With the king I felt more courage : young and virtuous, he was able and willing to hear all I had to propofe. The queen alfo heard mef avourably. But among the attendants on majefty, among courtiers and citizens, how innumerable were the animofities and hatreds to which I expofed myfelf ! I had to oppofe with firmnefs every fpecies of influence and power ; I had to contend with all the factions of individual intereft; and in this fti'uggle I perpetually rifked the feeble thread of my poli- tical exiftence. I did it however, and I pro- ceeded boldly in my career without giving ground for a moment. When I recoiled: what my fituation and what my conduct were, I confefs I look with pity on the efforts made in the National Affembly to obtain the reputation of fortitude, when a pompous declamation, which is attended with no danger, informs us 3 that 14 Administration of that a thoufand crowns have been retrenched or taken from the fcattered foldiers of a routed army ; for which innumerable plaudits are fure to be beftowed by its adherents. True it is that care is taken to make the houfe re- found with mighty names, courtiers, minifters, and grandees, that the people may imagine they ftill are waging war with giants, though their champions are well convinced the beings with which they contend are phantoms. The prefent is not the time to detail the plans of order and ceconomy, and the various meafures beneficial to the finances, which, during my firft adminiftration, were the ob- jects of my inceffant attention and ftudy. My bufinefs is to proceed rapidly ; and I mail con- tent myfelf with obferving, that the germ of the exifting ideas is to be found in the two moft remarkable inftitutions of my miniftry. By the eftablifhment of the provincial aflem- blies, of which I laid the firft foundation in I 779 ^ was tended to aflbciate the whole nation in the direction of its interefts, and to tear away the veil which had been fo long fpread over them by a imall number of com- miflioners nominated by the king. This efta- blifhment gave to the provinces protectors and Mr. Necker. 15 and guides, attached the citizen to the public welfare, and induced him to employ his thoughts and contribute the aid of his know- ledge to the advancement of the national profperity. A fecond inftitution, not lefs important, was the refolution formed by the king of giving greater publicity to the Hate of the finances. He thus erected confidence on a more folid bafe, called the nation to the knowledge and examination of public government, and for the.firft time made the affairs of ftate a com- mon concern. The two meafures I have mentioned, equally efTential to happinefs and good order, fo greatly enlightened the public mind, that, if we take a view of preceding times, we fhall find thefe two innovations at an immeafurable diftance from the ideas under which we had lived for fo long a period. The minifter who propofed the eftablim- ment of the provincial affemblies, narrowed ex- tremely his own influence. The minifter who propofed that the ftate of the finances fhould be always made public, laid his meafures open to fair difcumon. He did not preferve the privilege peculiar to the National AfTembly, that V i6 Administration* o? that of being able to execute his beneficial projects the more readily by increafing every day his own power. 1 alfo find the feeds of our prefent inftitu- tions, both in the declaration abolifhing the rights of mortmain, by which my adminiftra- ' tion was diftinguifhed, and in that which fixed the limits of the faille, prohibited its increafe without the authority of laws regiftered in the parliaments, and thus for the firft time fecured this tax from the power of arbitrary extenfions which government had referred to itfelf, and which it had fo long put in practice. The new fpirit that diflfufed itfelf and di- rected the public intereft to every benevolent inftitution, is in like manner to be referred to the epocha of my firft adminiftration. The prifons, the infirmaries, the hofpitals, the monafteries of charity, became an object: of government ; and the improvements, the hu- mane regulations that were applied to them ; the new eftablifhments undertaken in the midlt of war ; in fine, the manifold acts of royal bounty and compaflion to the unfor- tunate, gave to patriotifm, already put in mo- tion by other more general difpofitions, an impreflion of mildnefs and fenfibility that ren- dered, Mr. Necker. 17 dered it an object of univerfal attention* Men did good becaufe they defired it, and they defired it from the love of it ; no appearance of effort or reftraint accompanied thefe firft afpirations of a people, acting from their own impulfe, and fhewing no defire to exchange their natural genius for that which they have fince been perfuaded to adopt. And did we then take our laft farewel of that conftellation of generous and focial virtues, which fo long rendered the character of the French celebrated in Europe ? How great the lofs to them, and how deep the gloom (fo to exprefs mylelf) that is fpread over the univerfe, if this fplendor is ultimately to give place to the artificial glow and fyftematic activity that derive their feelings from intellectual fubtlety, and their virtues from the wild exaggeration of opinions ! A perfect political legiilation is more neceflary than ever, under this new difcipline ; while, on the other hand, the character that once did honour to the people of France, ferved as a bond of union to the diilant ranks of fociety, and qualified with its healing balm the errors of government and the miftakes of legiilation. I wifh no longer to detain the attention of the reader on my firft adminiftration : it is C fufficient iS Administration op fufficient to have taken a curfory view of it, and pointed out its connection with the pre- fent period, the only period men love, the only one they wifh to be acquainted with, the only one they remember. I fhall be lefs concife in prefenting the eflential circumftances and leading events of my fecond adminiftration: but I ought previ- oufly to tell in a few words what ufel made of the interval between thefe two epochas ; as it was wholly confecrated to ftudies that were not foreign to public affairs and the felicity of man- kind. I regard the indifference of the National AfTembly as a wound inflicted on my reputation; and I refpect too highly the weight of its opinion to neglect any means of vindicating myfelf, when I appeal from its unjuft treatment, to the nation, to Europe, and to pofterity. It is known that I devoted my firft leifure to the compofition of a very extenfive work upon the fubjec"t. of finances in general, and thofe of France in particular ; and this work, by the quantity of pofitive knowledge with which it is filled, and the method with which that knowledge is arranged, has not been un- ferviceable to perfons employed in advancing the Ma. Ne cker, 19 the interefts of the ftate, or deftined by their iituation for the firft offices of government. I have prevented genius from being dif- heartened, by clearing the way for it ; and I have excited every judicious mind to the ftudy of finance, by fixing guide-pofts at thofe in- numerable crofs-ways whole intricate appear- ance was repulfive to curiofity. This work was feen in the hands of all the Notables, afTembled by the king, in 1787, to aflift him by their counfels in the critical fitua- tion of affairs. It has ferved as a guide to all thofe who, fince that period, have con- curred in operating the public welfare ; and if I were merely to confider it as a collection of interefting facts, and valuable information, I have ftill the hope of having made fome progrefs towards the deareft object of my wifhes, by developing in various ways the infeparable union of policy in adminiftration with moral principles : a noble and fure al- liance, which will ever be the corner ftone in the true fcience of government, and the main bafis of the profperity of nations and the hap- pinefs of mankind ! It was from a defire to ftrengthen thefe principles of morality, principles whofe falu- C 2 tary 20 Administration of tary influence was ever prefent to my mind*, that I endeavoured, to the beft of my power, to invigorate the connection that unites them with religious opinions. I faw indeed mora- lity always honoured, or rather always cele- brated ; but men were perpetually making, and threatened with utter deflrudion,the venerable columns by which it was fupported; and they wiQied to fubflitute in their place feeble props, the work of human hands, and which, with- out bearing any proportion to the majefty of the edifice, could ftand no comparifon with that univerfal code, with that facred autho- rity, that, in a manner the moft irrefiftible, points out to men their duties, determines their mutual facrifices, and leads them to the feli- city which they are capable of attaining. It was by an appeal to the common fenfc of mankind, and alfo, I believe, by reflections not inconfiftent with philofophy, that I ren- dered a public homage to the importance and reality of religious opinions, opinions deferted by the fpirit of the age, by that fpirit eager after every fpecies of empire, by that fpirit proud of its chains, and which, blindly trufting to the imaginary extent of its powers, would fubflitute its reafonings inftead of the light of ages, Mr. Necker. 21 ages, its conceits in the place of whatever exifts, and would refolve to new-model the world, without underftanding a Tingle link of the chain. The book which I here call to remembrance, the volume of my deareft thoughts, I may juftly rank among the labours I have devoted to the happinefs of men and the utility of the public. Alas ! in my prefent fituation why have I not this book ftill to write ! They were tran- quil days which I pafTed in railing myself by meditation to the idea of a Supreme Being ; and I have now more need than ever of placing myfelf in this happy fanctuary. We there fee the injuftice of men from fo great an eminence, that we can {till love them not- wdthftanding our difapprobation of their conduct, we can ftill love them in the midft ef the perfecutions of which they have rendered us the victims. The idea of a Supreme Being, that idea ever falutary, is ap- plicable to every occurrence of human life ; and while by its greatnefs it fills the compafs of the world, more fubtle than light, it pierces to the bottom of the foul, to fill it with the confolations of which human nature is fufcep- tible. I have need of thefe reflections, I have C 3 need ii Administration of need at this moment of repofe, before I farther prefent myfelf to the eyes and examination of men, before I purfue a difcuffion the neceflity of which is painful to my heart. I am now to recite the principal tranfa&ions of my fe- cond adminiftration, and I fhalf introduce fuch reflections as naturally fugged themfelves, on the occafion. There feems to me an abyfs of ages between the two periods; it feems to be a new nation of which I am going to fpeak. The foil and the climate are the fame ; every thing elfe is changed. It was in the month of Auguft 17S8 that the king entrufted me for the fecond time with the adminiftration of the finances. I had been exiled a little before ; and my memory fur- nifhed other recollections that were not cal- culated to make me in love with the fituution. I fubmitted however without relu&ance ; the ftate of public affairs impofed it on me as a law ; and I looked in the face of difficulties with a refolution to conquer them. It was not long before I received a precious recompence for this facrifice of myfelf. The unfortunate events that had taken place in the courfe of the preceding year, had fpread alarm through the kingdom, and agitated every * mind. Mr. Neck e r. 23 mind. The frequent recourfe to beds of juftice, the fubverfion of the parliaments, their prorogation fine die by royal authority, the tranflation of that of Paris to Troyes, the fubfequent exile and imprifonment of many of its members ; the fudden feizure of twelve gentlemen of Bretagne, their confinement in the Baftile, and laftly the eftablilhment of a cour pleniere, which, under the immediate eye of government, was to be henceforth all that the people had to depend upon thefe injudicious ads of authority, happening in the midft of the fermentation that had long exifted, excited in the provinces a kind of difcontent and irritation,that feemed the cer- tain prefage of a general infurreetion. An alarming commotion was on the point of breaking out at Grenobles, and the citizens had already arms in their hands, when the news arrived of the change that had taken place in adminiftration : their hopes imme- diately revived, and tranquillity was reftored. A fimilar revolution, fucceeding to fimilar ftorms, put a flop in various other parts of the kingdom to the commencement of a civil war, and prevented calamities the magnitude pf which it is not poffihle to calculate. I re- C 4 ceivetf 24 Administration of ceived from every quarter the mod flattering proofs of a confidence that forcibly called me to the difcharge of my duties. I underftood thefe duties ; I determined to obey the voice of the nation, which was not lefs general than it was in my opinion juft. The ad- vantages I poflefTed, my eager defire of the public good, my induftry, the credit and eclat which always accompany the appointment of a new minifter when his appointment has been confidered as necefTary, were all of them faithfully employed in the caufe of equity and freedom. The parliaments were recalled to their functions, the exiles returned, all the pri- fons were thrown open ; the idea of a cour pleniere, and all the meafures fanetioned in the famous bed of juftice of 8th May 1788, were for ever annihilated ; in fhort, a general fatif- faction, celebrated by lively acclamations which refounded from one end of the kingdom to the other, took place ; and bleflings were be- stowed on the king for this juft revolution, a revolution that called to the minds of the French, ever difpofed to love their fovereign, the purity of his intentions, and his conftant attachment to the public good. Thefe times, thefe events, are at no great diftance; Mr. Neck er. i$ diftance ; yet are they unfortunately too far back for remembranee. Meanwhile the alarm in which we had lived, the apprehenfions to which we had been fubject, and many injudicious arrange- ments of finance, many erroneous meafures, had weakened very confiderably a credit that had long been in a decrepit date ; and confi- dence had been abfolutely deftroyed by the arret of council which created paper-money to pay the dividends of the Hotel-de-Ville, the intereft of unfunded debts, and various other incumbrances of the ftate. At the fame time the moft burthenfome means were reforted to, to make up other indifpenfable payments ; and, with a view of keeping off the laft crifis of the diforder, they prolonged by every poilible device an intermittent ftate, that could not but fpeedily terminate in a total extinction. Thus, when I returned to the helm of affairs, there were not five hundred thoufand livres in the royal treafury ; every fpecies of credit was annihilated ; and yet I was obliged to raife feveral millions in the fpace of a week, to difcharge engagements that were on the point of expiring, or expences of which the leaft delay would have occafioned the moft alarming %6 Administration of alarming dangers. I furmounted thefe firft obftacles : but new difficulties were continually fpringing up, becaufe the produce of every tax was confumed beforehand ; becaufe there exifted a great difproportion between the revenues and the ordinary expenditure ; and chiefly alfo becaufe it would have been un- becoming on every account to encroach on the province of the States General, by having re- courfe to public loans, or any other regular and fyftematic proceeding. It was only then by cruifing, by pra&ifing all the manoeuvres and resources circumfcribed within a narrow compafs, that I fucceeded in guiding the frail vefTel of the State, without running her aground, or permitting her to fink, till the opening of the States General, a period which I confidered as the firft fignal of a* fafe port. But the National AfTembly having poftponed to a confiderable diftance the difcuflion of the finances, I was obliged to continue the manoeuvres of a navigator in danger, much longer than I had at firft fup- pofed ; and I actually pafled two years of anxiety, ever intent on warding off imminent perils, and preventing a fhipwreck, the confe- quences . Mr. Nec ker. *7 quences of which would have been ruinous beyond the power of calculation. All thefe cares, all thefe folicitudes, have been forgotten as a dream. Calamities from which we have been preferved, leave the im- preflion only of negative advantage, of actions neither brilliant in their colour nor bold in their relief, and the fupinenefs of gratitude forgets that they exift. In the mean time it may at lead be remem- bered, that the famous arret of council of Auguft 1 78 8 was not carried into effect ; that arret which fpread fuch alarm, by autho- rising the payment of all the debts and ex- pences of the State, partly in paper and partly in money. I could eafily cite other circumftances and other fervices of a fimilar nature : they are numerous. But what can I expect from words, when actions, with all their bold and legible characters, are blotted from the memory, and leave not a trace behind them? I ought however to infill upon one tranf- action on my part, that may eafily have efcaped obfervation, and which would havebeen pain- ful to my feelings, had it not been dictated by 7 the 28 Administration of the pureft regard for the public good. It is not perhaps forgotten, that during the courfe of my firft adminiftration I was in continual motion ; every thing occupied my attention, every thing called for my activity now an im- portant reform, now a faving, now a new conftrudion of the boards of finance, a dimi- nution of treafuries, a new fyftem of accounts, changes without number, and preparations for various arrangements of which the moment of execution was not yet arrived ; in fhort, there was not a day but I had employment of fome kind. I faw, on renaming the government in Auguft 1 788, that the good of the ftate dictat- ed to me a different mode of proceeding ; I faw that, for its fake, it was incumbent on me to keep the adminiftration of the finances in a kind of obfcurity and filence. I felt that, by endeavouring again to deftroy the abufes which had been reproduced in fuch abundance fince I retired from office, I mould excite, for the fake of a work that could laft only for a day, a multiplicity of complaints and grievances that would diminifh my rcfources and weaken my credit, at a time when all my ftrength was neceflary to fucceed in the only great en- terprife in which it behoved me to concentrate my efforts, an enterprife that was to operate a generaj Mr. Nec^ek. 29 general reform I mean, the formation of the States General. I reflected that, at fo fhort a diftance from the affembling of the deputies of the nation, it would be ufelefs to begin with my fingle arm a new war with abufes, when fhortly they would all be fcrutinized and deftroyed for ever by a more vigorous hand, I confidered that, by preferving tranquillity in the kingdom, by fupporting the tottering edi- fice of the finances, by providing againft a fcarcity of provifions, by warding off great ca- lamities, by obviating numberlefs difficulties of alefs confpicuous nature, and by levelling the ways that led to the moft important and de- firable events, I mould acquit myfelf of the duties of a public man, of a good citizen, and the faithful fervant of a king who defired and who ftudied the good of the ftate. Guided by thefe reflections, I devoted myfelf without referve to the preparing and accomplifhing this great defign. I muft here digrefs for a moment, to defend fome particular inftances of my political con- duct from the unjuft reproaches that have been caft on them. I know what fome people fay of them. They, cannot forgive the firmnefs and zeal I fhewed 3o Administration of fhewed for the convocation of the States Gene- ral. " The embarraflment of the finances gave " rife to the idea : but, fince I thought myfelf " able to furmount the difficulties with which " other men had been too eafily frightened, " it became me, as minifter of the king, to * difcard a project, conceived in a moment " of alarm, and the confequences of which " would necefTarily be dangerous to the autho- *' rity of the fovereign." I give to the objection its full force; but it , will admit, I conceive, of an anfwer. They forget, in the firft place, that there are at all times various duties incumbent on a mini- fter. I do not imagine that his character and functions would oblige him, even under the old form of government, to fix all his attention on the authority of the monarch, and to defend this authority in every fenfe and application which prejudices or corrupt ufages might have introduced. A minifter, if he were an honeft man, might lawfully have afTumed the feelings that became a virtuous monarch, and made them the rule of his conduct. He might do this with the greater propriety, fince, not holding his office by an indiflbluble bond, the prince could difmifs him from his confi- dence, Mr. NeckeR. Ji dence, the moment when the character and opinions of the man he had made choice of to ferve him, ceafed to accord with his wifhes and defigns. It was not the bufinefs of a mi- nifter to act independently of the king ; but, placed near his perfon, and receiving his or- ders, he was expected to enlighten his jus- tice, to direct his inclinations, and fecure to him the firft gratifications of the throne the felicity of his people, and their unalterable gratitude. It would then be a flagrant error to fuppofe that formerly the fole duty of a minirter was to watch over the maintenance of royal authority ; for if it behoved him to enforce a ready compliance, the reafonable* nefs of his orders could not be indifferent to him. And why are we defirous that no fentiment of a citizen fhould be allowed to the minifters of a fovereign, or have any mare in their councils ? They would then be compelled to abjure the firft of virtues, the moment they were called upon to aid by their labours the auguft chief of the ftate, and the guardian of the fate of the empire. The party who wifh to interpret in this way the ancient obligations of the fervants of the king, forget that they would themfelves have 3a Administration oP have defpifed the minifter who, in ferving the monarch, mould have neglected his duty towards the nation. They would have wiih- ed their own interefts to be taken care of, both as to their private and corporate capacity; but, even putting themfelves out of the cafe, they would have been the firft to applaud all the features of intrepid virtue difplayed by a minifter who was at the fame time a citi- zen ; only, perhaps, they would have done it with more fpirit, when the introduction of fevere principles was at a diftance from their general application. Doubtlefs, as I declared to the States Gene- ral, and as I had previoufly informed the king and his council, the order of the finances could have been reflored without the inter- vention of a National AfTembly, and without having recourfe to new taxes. But I confi- dered the convocation of the States General in a more* important light; and it was not on the exigencies of the finances, it was not on any fin- glemcafureof any fort, thatllaidtheftrefsof my expectations as to this glorious event. 1 knew better than any one how precarious and mo- mentary was the good that could be operated under a government in which the principles of Mil. Nec& ft. $3 Under a government in which the principles of adminiftratiori changed at the will of mi- niftcrs, and minifters at the will of intrigue, I had obfcrved that, in the rapid fucceflion of political characters, there was time for no general idea to eftablifh itfelf, and no lafting benefit to be fecured. It was thus we faw for a long period, in the midft of national wealth, a difgraceful want of credit \ in the midft of the moft diversified and numerous taxes, a per- petual embarraflment in the finances; in the midft of the wretchednefs of the people, the moft injudicious liberalities ; in the midft of the progreffive light of the age, ancient preju- dices retained both in commerce and legifla- tion; in the midft of generous fentiments that infpire men with the love of liberty, ads of the moft defpotic authority ; and, by a ftriking Angularity, the exercife of this authority was accompanied with the moft timid referve, and a dread of every obftacle, whenever it was propofed to benefit the ftate by new mea- fures, and in ways that had not yet been tried. In fhort, the example of a neighbouring people, happy and flourifhing under a confti- tution in which the knowledge and general D wifli 34 Administration of wifh of the nation were directed to the com- mon interefts of the ftate, as well as various other confiderations, habitually recalled the attention to the advantages that might refult from the aflfembling of the States General; and the fpirit of the times, and the defire of France, enforced this attention. A more pleafing profpect could not be prefented to the nation j it appeared to the imagination as a period of repofe and felicity, after a long feries of alarms. The kingdom, tired of the continual fluctuation of the principles of government, wifhed to fee eftablifhed, in a permanent man- ner, a juft proportion between the revenues and the expenditure, a prudent ufe of credit, a judicious diflribution of taxes, a general plan of public beneficence, an enlightened fyftem of legiflation; and, above all, a conftitutional fecu- rity both for civil and political liberty. The moil able minifter, who, in the room of this pleafing and grand expectation, fhould from motives of vanity have wifhed the nation to enjoy the evanefcent fruits of his talents, would have feemed to act like him who mould prefer an artificial firework to the genial light and conftant heat of the rays of the fun ; and his foolifh prefumption would have rendered 6 him Mr. Nec ker. 35 him delinquent both againft the nation and the age. 1 fee, as well as other men, the reproaches that may be caft on the National Affembly; but I am confcious at the fame time of the great obligations that are due to it. Befide, this flrft pupil of public opinion will, when it fhall be- come neceffary, be corrected by itfelf ; its mat- ter will reprimand it for having been fo eager to fhew itfelf, and for having been too confi- dent in the firft effays of its undifciplined genius ; he will order its faults to be repaired by a fecond legiflature ; and this again will in like manner fee its ideas perfected by the afTemblies that fhall fucceed: but all will have this incomparable ad- vantage, an advantage which no other form of government can obtain that of going forward aided by the nation ; that of always acting in conformity with the general wifh; that of pof- fefling ftrength proportioned to the magnitude of the undertaking ; that of having no obfta- cles to impede them ; laftly, and which is a prerogative in the utmoft degree efTential, that of obtaining confidence before the event of their meafures can be feen ; and of out- running, by means of thefe various advantages, the flow progrefs of experience. I have there- D 2 fore 36 Administration o? fore no doubt, when order and the regular proceedings of authority fhall be combined with the vafl fund of knowledge and obfer- vation of which thefe afTemblies will be the centre, that all abufes will be gradually deftroy- ed, and France, that great and proud king- dom, cleared of its briars and thorns, will be fown afrefh, if I may be allowed the figure, and will reap every day the happy fruits of its new cultivation. I conceive that I have thus anfwercd in a fatisfactory manner the reproach I undertook to examine ; and, after the weighty reafons I have employed, I mould be inclined to over- look an inferior and trifling circumftance, if it were not of a nature that commonly makes an impreflion on the mafs of mankind. I will add then, that the minifter of the finances who mould have devoted his whole attention to petty minutise, rauft have felt the greater! averlion for the convocation and eftablifhment of the States General ; for he was fure of thus degrading his office, and of falling from the pinnacle of credit and power to a fubaltern agency, deftitute of the fmalleft influence; and I had not to learn that the refpeft for men in office was proportioned with wonder- 3 ful Mr. Ne c ker. 37 ful accuracy and admirable precifion to their degree of influence in affairs. They do not at firft perceive this, and for a long time they have the candour to fuppofe that it is them- felves who are loved, that it is themfelves who are fought, that it is themfelves who are admired; but, at the inftant of their fall or their decline, the feparation of what belonged to their perfon from what belonged to their office, is made with a quicknefs of which no chemical procefs can give a fufficiently juft idea. The fpeedy convocation of the States Ge- neral being once determined upon, it was de- ferable and necefiary to employ the moft active attention to the mode in which it was to be done, and to adopt in this refpect a reafonable and prudent choice. The parliament of Paris, by the vote with which it accompanied the regifler of the king's declaration of the month of May 1788, had attempted to oblige the monarch to form it on the model of the States ^fTembled at Paris in 1614. The national wifh, and the improvement of the age, oppofed this form ; and the difficulties and great in- conveniences attending it, were exhibited in the preamble of the arret of council of 5th D 3 October 213167 38 . Administration of October 1788 ; and the fame truth was laid open in a number of fubfequent writings. I thought it abfolutely neceffary to introduce fome weighty opinion, as a counterbalance to this defire of the firft parliament in the king- dom ; and I propofed to the king to confult, on this important queftion, the Notables of the realm. The Notables of 1787, compofed in a great meafure of the firft nobility, bifhops, and ma- giftrates, did not combine all the impartiality that might be defired : but they had been fe- lected under the preceding miniftry, and for affairs abfolutely foreign to the conftitution ; and, by recalling them, all fufpicion of finifter views on the part of government would be taken away. This confideration determined his majefty. The king then was anxious, above all things, to find a mode of convoking the States Ge- neral that fhould attract the confidence of the nation ; for he wifhed the AfTembly to poflefs the actual power of doing good, in order to prevent its becoming, like a legiflator without authority, from the defective obfervance of its decrees, a fource of confufion and inteftine difpute. The Mr. Necker. 29 The Notables devoted themfelves to the moll afliduous and ufeful labours. By their enquiries they pointed out the numerous diffi- culties it was necefTary to clear, previous to the convocation of an alTembly of the States General ; and by their examinations and deci- fions they facilitated and made fure the path of government. Without the fupport of their opinion, the council could never have ob- tained the confidence necefTary for determining an infinite number of queftions which would have been the occafion of continual embarrafT- ment and contradiction. The moft important of all, that which con- cerned the comparative number of deputies of the three orders, was determined by the Notables in the fame manner as it had been by the parliament ; but their decifion, which was not unanimous, excited fuch loud and general clamours, that the king thought it juft to have it difcufTed, feparate from all the reft, in his council. I doubtlefs advifed him to this meafure j but it is manifeft that I was influenced by no fpirit of partiality. All my ties, all my habits of intercourfe, were with that order of fociety which applauded the decifion of the Notables : D 4 and 4-0 Administration of and it was one of my firft mortifications to find myfelf in oppofition to their fentiments, and that unalterably ; lince the conviction of my confcience, and the good of the ftate, to the bed of my judgment, impofed on me, as a fevere duty, the conduct I adopted on this memorable occafion. It was after various preparatory committees that I delivered in the Council of State the report which every one is acquainted with. There had been confiderable debates on the important queflion thus fubmitted to the exa- mination of miniftry ; for their opinions were not uniform ; and the moft laborious difcuflion preceded the determination of his majefty, a determination manifefted by the decifion of council of 27th December 1788. The Com- mons fucceeded in obtaining the object of their wifhes and their prayers, that of a repre- fentation equal to the two other orders com- bined. This was a period for the ebullitions of gratitude : to the King they teftified their fatisfaction by the moft flattering demonftra- tions of affection and loyalty; and I alfo came in for a fhare in their acknowledgments. They received as a benefit what was merely a point of juflice. This miftake of men of fenfibility Mr. Necker. 41 fenfibility is the only confolation of virtuous kings. The fevere and unrelenting enmity of a confiderable party againft me, is folely owing to this ad of juftice, fo fimple and natural in its principle ; and, by a Angularity that is diftreffing to my heart, while I experience on all fides the effects, or obferve the traces, of an obdurate refentment, if I turn my regards to thofe whom I have ferved, their ungrateful indifference affords me a fpe&acle Hill more painful. Happily I have the confolation of having been guided in all my actions by the pureft motives ; and this remembrance has fo much fweetnefs, fo much life in it, that not- withftanding the injuftice of men, and not- withstanding the moft complete defertion, one is not left alone. The report of the council of 27th Decem- ber, gave an impartial detail of the arguments that fupported, and thofe which controverted, my opinion. I fhall not repeat the ideas con- tained in it ; they have fmce been taken up, extended, and examined in numberlefs publi- cations. But I perceive foreigners giving a favourable ear to this fimple argument em*- ployed 42 Administration of ployed by the adverfaries of the Commons : " Either the three Chambers ought to deli* " berate feparately, and then the number of " deputies of the Tiers-Etat would be a matter " of indifference to that order of the people ; " or the three Chambers ought to deliberate " in common, and then the deputies of the " Tiers-Etat would be on an equal footing " with the two other Orders : a diftribution ** contrary to the ancient ufages of the realm.'* But to this argument we may oppofe another of a fimilar nature, and more deferring of at- tention : Either the three Chambers ought to deli- berate feparately, and then the number of deputies of the Tiers-Etat would be a point of indifference to the two firft Orders ; or the three Chambers ought to deliberate in com- mon, and then, notwithftanding the ancient ufages of the realm, which are liable to difpute, and will admit of various conftructions, it would have been a fingular phenomenon, in this sera of intellectual progrefs and improve- ment in all forts of ideas, in this xra when the oppreffion of the Commons was on the point of being extirpated, if they had not been allowed the fame number of defenders at Mr. Necker. 43 as the two other Orders, who were in pofleffion of every favour and every privilege. It would have been ftrange, unjuft, and impolitic, to have rejected the reafonable de- mand of ninety-eight men in a hundred of the nation, and the equitable wifh of that numerous clafs of citizens whofe labour, knowledge, and induftry, conilitute the wealth and fplendour of France. It is a flagrant wrong to pretend to combat maxims already obfolete againft all the vigour of the natural principles of juftice, when thefe principles blaze forth and are feconded by the general wifh of the nation. It is from not having obferved fufEciently early the progrefs of opi- nions, and their invincible power, that the two firft. Orders fixed their eyes on the paft, and exerted their combined ftrength to maintain it in exiftence, inftead of imitating the wifdom of government, which yielded in fome refpects to prevailing opinion. The mafter-ftroke of policy in human affairs, is to act with fore- fight, and to obtain the merit of facrifice, be- fore the moment arrives when facrifice will be regarded as duty, and will be inadequate to the exigency of the fituation. How found would have been the policy of the two firft Orders, and what aid would they not 44 Administration or not have afforded to the king himfelf, if, in- ftead of expecting every thing from an in- fluence that had ceafed to exift, they had not difputed fo long about the verification of powers ; if they had not perfifted in rejecting the firft overtures of accommoda- tion fuggefted by the king's minifters, and oppofed the mod direct obftacle in the way of moderate meafures, which, aflifted by the afcendancy of the monarch, might in due time have reconciled the jarring interefls of the different parties ! How eafy is it to form an idea of the conduct they ought to have purfued, a conduct that would immediately have fixed the public opinion in their favour, and enabled them to appear in the National Aflcmbly with all the fuperiority that would have refulted from their fortune, their rank, and their credit ! But they abfented themfelves till they had difplayed in too confpicuous a light their party colours, and erected a ftandard under which thofe deputies of the Tiers-Etat who were difpofed to fide with them dared no longer enlift. It is an error that has been committed more than once in great political contefts The party that, from an obftinate adherence to its hereditary principles, has re- mained ftation-ary, while the other was going forward, Mr. N e c ker. 45 forward, has loft the opportunity of tempering the new ideas with the leaven of the old ; and when irritation has fucceeded, has acquired ftrength, and we are defirous of compounding with, or attempt to moderate it, we find it an arduous undertaking; and we fee too late how imprudent it was to leave innovators for fo long a time to fail alone, favoured by the gales both of opinion and fortune. I have pointed out more forcibly than any perfon, in my different works, the empire of public opinion, and its increafing ftrength. Foreigners can fcarcely form an idea of fuch a power, and cannot comprehend how it can be put in a balance againft military force. But no country fo completely as France unites to an immenfe population all that can roufe men to freedom of fentiment and freedom of thinking; an abundance of wealth, an im- menfe national debt which attaches to the land a multitude of independent men, the activity of commerce, the cultivation of the arts, the eclat of letters, the progrefs of fcience, the love of novelty, the focial fpirit, the vehe- ment defire of praife, the fafcinating practice of every kind of oftentation ; and in the midft of this combination of circumftances, which gave 46 Administration of gave a direction to the national genius, there has ftarted up in thefe latter days a new phi- lofophy, which, carrying all before it, deftroy- ing our fortreffes, our banks, our barriers, has fo levelled the moral world, as to render it favourable to, and incline it to eftablifh, every political theory, and every fyftem of legifla- tion. In the mean time, as long as public opinion divided its forces, royal authority had little to fear, and frequently derived from it effential advantage; this opinion conftituting a principal reward for courage and military virtue. Pub- lic opinion, attentive at that time to different objects, and diffufed over a large fpace, did not and could not create any alarm ; but the diforder and ruin of the finances, by collecting its fcattered rays into one focus, have increafed to fuch a degree its action and energy, that it is become indifpenfably neceflary either to yield to, or at beft to compound with it. The party who oppofe the admiffion of too great a number of deputies of the Commons into the States General, and who accufe me of a breach of duty towards the monarch, feem to have loft fight of various circum- ftances. They forget, for example, that at the time Mr. Necker. 47 time I refumed the reins of adminiflration, the king conceived that he had reafon to complain of the conduct of the NoblefTe in the late poli- tical difTenfions; whereas the Tiers-Etat had in various provinces fhewn a confiderable defer- ence to the views of government. They for- get alfo that they have frequently afcribed the violence of the AfTembly to the afcendancy of the popular leaders, and their fecret plots ; but enumerate thefe leaders, and it will be found that the majority of them were not deputed by the order of the Commons. In fhort, the party whofe objections I am refuting, cannot con- fider themfelves as having no fhare in the meafures adopted by the court the nth of July ; meafures which excited all the kingdom to arms, and eventually occafioned the defec- tion of the troops. In the mean time, the balance of flrength being once fubverted, and that in fo finking a manner, the defence of the exifting powers, and the fupport of public order, veiled no longer in the hands of govern- ment ; and the language of reafon, that lafl refource, loft at the fame time a confiderable fhare of its energy and influence. It behoves me to make one obfervation ftiore, Angularly applicable to this fubjecl:. In attacking 48 Administration of attacking the reprefentation of the Tiers-Etat in the National Affembly, the two firft Orders now derive all their arguments from the in* terefts of the royal authority ; whereas, at the time, they confidered this queftion only as it affected their own prerogatives. But it was the judicious and beneficent intention of the monarch that all privileges as to pecuniary contributions mould be for ever annihilated ; and the Orders who enjoyed them entered readily into this fentiment of general equity* There was no reafon to prefume that the Tiers-Etat wifhed to exceed the bounds of in- novation marked out by the king in the deci- fion of council of 27th December, a decifion that included every thing that could give fecu- rity to political freedom. They were circum- ftances of an extraordinary nature that led beyond thefe bounds ; and of this we mail be convinced if we read the majority of inftruc- tions given to the deputies of the third Order, and ftill more if we recollect the language of the Tiers-Etat at the time the quantity of it* reprefentation was decided in the States Gene- ral : the fame language is alfo to be feen irv the letters of the municipalities, which con- tain the molt becoming fentiments refpe&ing the Mr. Nec ker. 49 the royal authority, the monarchy, and the perfon of the Sovereign. Such are the facts which it became the lofing party to have known and remembered, before they erected themfelves into cenfors of paft tranfactions. The greater part of thefe considerations are equally applicable to the objections made againft the number of undignified clergy elect- ed as reprefentatives of the general body. I muft add however, that the undignified clergy were become at once electors and capable of being elected, in confequence of a regulation difcuffed and decreed in the Affembly of No- tables, the fame which accorded a fimilar right to all the inferior nobleffe, whether they were or were not landed proprietors. It is afked indeed why government agreed to this regula- tion, as it did not think proper to conform to the fentiments of a majority of the Notables, refpecting the proportion of deputies of the Tiers Etat ? Is it then poffible not to perceive, that government would have loft the power of difTenting from the opinions of the Notables, the moment it adopted any meafure contrary to the general wih of the nation ? It was by means of this wifh that it could E regulate 50 Administration op regulate the reprefentation of the Tiers Etat ; and vain would have been its attempt to act at once in oppofition both to the general opinion and that of the Notables. The objection then to which they would have me reply, is of a na- ture purely abftract. Equally deftitute of force is the objection, that as the king was obliged to conform to the fentiments of the Notables, as to the eligibility of the undignified clergy, he ought to have re- nounced the wife and equitable views by which he had been influenced in fixing the number of reprefentatives of the Tiers Etat. Thefe views were allied to confederations of too general and cogent a nature to be facrificed. Befide, intent upon fupporting the weak againft the powerful, the king faw nothing to fear from introducing into the States Gene- ral the fureft friends of the people, and fuch as had the beft opportunity of knowing their real wants ; he faw nothing to fear from ad- mitting into a political aflembly a clafs of citi- zens, who, from the nature of their profeflion, were attached to the love of peace, to a refpect for authority, and to the prefervation of pub- lic order, of which the precepts of religion and morality conftituted them the guardians. In Mr. Nec ker. 51 In fine, if we regard only the prerogatives of the clergy, we fhall find that the infe- rior order partook, with thofe in higher fitu- ations, of that jealoufy which is anxious for the maintenance of thefe prerogatives, and that in fact they have never deferted the common caufe of their profedion. In the principles laid down for the forma- tion of the States General, there were other circumftances calculated to balance the confe- quences that might refult from the eligibility of the undignified clergy. Such, for example, was the power the electors enjoyed of chufing deputies in an order different from their own ; a power that has occafioned the nomination of many nobles, both thofe who are fo by birth and thofe who are fo from office, to be reprefentatives of the Tiers Etat, while no member of the commons is to be feen among the deputies of the nobleffe. It may alfo be obferved that the inhabitants of the free towns, pofTelfing a number of exclufive privileges, felt but a flender attachment to the general intereft of the commons ; and, which is a con- federation of ftill higher importance, that in the natural courfe of things, the nobles, the chief feigneurs, and high dignitaries, would be E 2 better $i Administration of better able to obtain votes in the order of the Tiers Etat, than the Tiers Etat would be to gain in its favour the opinion of men fuperior to itfelf in wealth and credit : fo that equality of numbers was infufficient to fecure equality of influence. We ought, if we would judge fairly, to go back to the period when the fate of elections was as yet wholly unknown. There may be more prudence, but where is the merit of ut- tering our prophecies when the event has al- ready taken place, and we do nothing more than reverfe the dates, and call obfervation by the name of forefight ? when we may fecure- ly prepare our maxims and our principles, and at leifure adjuft the correfpondence between them and the incidents for which they are to account ? Such is the pleafure we derive from refer- ring to a fingle idea, foon learned, and foon ftored up in the memory, all that is moft com- plicated in a long feries of hiflorical circum- ftances. Thus the doubling of the Tiers, conftantly ufed as a term of reproach, will probably al- ways continue fo ; for, by directing our accu- fations againft the chief meafure of govern- ment, Mr. Necker, $3 merit, we are exempted from afcribing any blame to ourfelves. The total number of the deputies has been an object of animadverfion to the fame party. By making it fo confiderable, the king, they fay, is placed in a dependance on the AfTembly. This reafoning is alfo of a recent date ; for, at the period of the formation of the National AfTembly, the friends of the king, the friends of France, all good citizens, were equally defi- rous that the States General mould have the requifite degree of ftrength to enable them to do good, and obtain the refpect of true nation. I will add, that, even as the queftion is ftated at the prefent period, it is a miftake to afcribe to the number of deputies the political exagge- rations adduced as a reproach againft the Na- tional AfTembly ; for thefe exaggerations are much lefs the refult of its power, than the effect of its weaknefs. They may be regarded, for the moftpart,as the fruit of the external powers which rule the AfTembly ; and the more the number of deputies had been reduced, the lefs able w r ould it have been to refift the overbear- ing influence of the different affociations by which it is furrounded. We have feen, in the inftance of the laft States of Bretagne, how an E 3 aflembly 54 Administration of afTembly of the commons, held at the Hotel de Ville, gave to a fmall number of the depu- ties of this order, having a feat in the States, a fpirit of refiftance and innovation, which per- haps they would not have had if their num- ber had been increafed by the admiflion of the very fame perfons who held their fittings out of the hall. In general, thofe who take upon them to encourage and incite others, them- felves exempt from every kind of refponfibi- lity, rarely obferve any juft bounds. The per- fons really refponfible have no need of refort- ing to violent means to attract notice -, while the others, placed in no confpicuous ftation, are obliged to fignalize themfelves by the ex- travagance of their fentiments, in order to raife them from their obfcurity. The laft fubject of cenfure, relative to the convocation of the States General, is the place fixed upon for their fittings. It mould have been, it is laid, at a greater diflance from the tumult of the capital. Here alfo the objectors judge more from events than previous dis- cernment. What occurred at the moment of deliberating on this queftion was, that the laft States, thofe of 1614, were held at Paris ; and it was not natural to exhibit marks of diftruft, Mr. Necker. 55 diftruft, on the part of the king, when he was fecuring to the nation a mafs of political ad- vantages unparalleled in the annals of hiftory. At fuch a time he ought not to have fhewn the appearance of a doubt refpecting a grati- tude, of which he had received the pledge in the benedictions that were beftowed upon him after the decifion of the council ; and it would univerfally have been conftrued into doubt, if, after fo many conceflions on his part, and in the midft of the loyalty that was felt for him, a fyftem of jealoufy and precaution had been adopted, which, under the regency of Catherine of Medicis, had not been thought necefTary. There was fo much the more to miflead the minds of men in this inftance, as the general adminiftration could with lefs pro- priety than formerly withdraw itfelf from Paris, on account of the increafe of bufinefs, and multiplication of affairs of finance, in a city become the centre of all the collections, and the point of communication between the revenue and the expenditure. Befide, it was known that the States General would have to ftudy, in a minute and accurate manner, every branch of the adminiftration of the finances ; and both their enquiries and their labours E 4 would $6 Administration of would have been found impracticable, if they had been fixed at too great a diftande from the magazine of documents which were neceflary to them. Laftly, it is doubtlefs remembered, that what was moft to be apprehended, and with reafon, from the deputies of the provinces, was a too great indifference to the public debt ; but, by being placed near the capital, it was fuppofed they would fhew a preference to the creditors of the ftate : the conjecture was ve- rified by the event. I am confcious that the duties prefcribed by the good faith of the na- tion would have been felt wherever the Affem- bly had been held ; but if we would be fincere we muft acknowledge, that the vicinity of Paris has not proved injurious to this moral principle : and we fhall be confirmed in this opinion, if we obferve the inattention of the National AfTembly to all the claims of com- penfation on the part of citizens robbed, by its decrees, of rights that conftituted an effential part of their property. There was an error on my part which is not known, and which for that reafon I have the greater pleafure in avowing. I had re- commended to the king to convoke the States General Mr. Necker. 57 General at Paris even, in preference to Ver- failles, which his majefty refufed for very good reafons : I fhall not mention mine ; for, in- dependently of my refpecT: for the king, I can have no motive to defend my opinion againft his, fmce I take a perfonal intereft in all the homage paid to his wifdom. I return to the decifion of council of 37th December 1788. It is not merely by the commons of France that this memorable declaration of his majefty's intentions ought to be prized ; it is to the whole nation, to the prefent generation, and to generations yet un- born, the raoft fignal blefling. In this decla- ration the king laid the firfl foundation of the national liberty ; it was there he made known the generous facrifice of a part of his autho- rity, to fecure for ever the happinefs of France: and he did it long before the inftrudtions given to the deputies by their conftituents ; he did it before the meeting of the electoral affemblies, before the meeting of the primary alTemblies, before the convocation of the States General, before even that unanimity of fuffrages which afcertained the current of public opinion : he did it, in fhort, volun- tarily, freely, and in the plenitude of his in- > fiuenct 58 Administration of fluence and power. There is not one of hid actions that bear fuch ftriking marks of this character; and thus the greateft of all was at the fame time the moil folemn of all. It is a truth which cannot be difputed, that a nation is free, and becomes the guardian of its own happinefs, when it acquires the power, or enjoys the right, of granting or re- fufing taxes, of approving or oppofing every fort of loan, and of fixing and regulating the whole expenditure ; when every reform and melioration are fubject to its free controul ; when all pecuniary immunities are already ab- jured, all acts of arbitrary authority profcribed, and the periodical meeting of the National Af- femblies made an elTential part of the king's engagements. But all thefe falutary innova- tions were fecured before the States General entered on their deliberations, or even began to aflemble. The king made no fecret of his intentions : he wifhed to render the facrifices he had made immutable, and was defirous of guarding from every fpecies of revolution the political advantages the nation was about to enjoy ; and he would have confented to any juft meafurc likely to advance a plan con- ceived in mature wifdom, and the full and complete Mr. Necker, 59 complete execution of which opened before him a profpedt of happinefs, and a fure way of rendering his name precious to future ge- nerations. It is then by a fort of ufurpation of the gra- titude of the people, that the National Aflem- bly always fpeaks of happinefs and liberty as conquefts which it has obtained. The Na- tional AfTembly has doubtlefs wifhed and ef- fected more than had entered into the views of his majefty : but the firft foundations of the conftitution, thofe which form the key- ftone of the arch, were laid by the king ; to his beneficence are they to be afcribed ; and it is to be doubted whether the various fources of power g^tfped by the National x^flembly are favourable to public happinefs and true li- berty. The National AfTembly alfo aflumes, in my opinion, too much, when it afcribes to itfelf alone all the merit of the various individual . benefits which are included in the circle of its proceedings. A confiderable portion of gratitude is certainly due to it : but it is appa- rent, at the fame time, that the reform of the enormous abufes againft which public opinion had declared itfelf, cannot be regarded as the . appro- 60 Administration of appropriated work of certain individuals ; but is rather the inevitable effect of that mafs of knowledge exifting in twelve hundred per- fons felected by the nation, in the midft of an age fo eminently enlightened. It is eafy to calculate what fuch a combination muft pro- duce, but the firft merit is due to the having encouraged and flimulated it. Yes, it is there the merit lies, and a merit it is that is unrivalled and unexampled. To the virtuous monarch it belongs, who, by calling around him in great numbers the reprefentatives of the na- tion, forgot his perfonal interefts, to think only how he could afcertain with certainty the wifh of the whole, and confolidate the happinefs he was anxious it mould enjoy. Meanwhile, in eftimating the work of the National AfTembly, and enumerating its claims to public gratitude, men confound what be- longs to the king with what belongs to the AfTembly, and form from the whole a trophy in honour of the latter. Enough would in my opinion remain with the AfTembly, by giving to Cxfar the things that are Caefar's. It is true they have from time to time be- llowed on the king the title of Rejiorer of the Liberty of France; but they inceffantly fpeak of this Mr. Necker. 6t this liberty as of a conqueft. How thefe and various other ideas of a fimilar nature are re- conciled, it is foreign to my fubject to relate. If the king had not felt in his heart the fentiments which he outwardly profefTed, he might eafily have procraftinated the convoca- tion of the States General. He had only to leave this vaft work to its natural difficulties, and thofe difficulties would have furnifhed a pretext for directing his attention to fome other plan. But government was above a policy of this fort ; and the cares it took to fucceed were innumerable. All objections were obviated, all refi (lance was combated, all contradictions were folved ; myfelf placed fometimes in the centre of this immenfe ma- chine, to facilitate its motion ; fometimes at the circumference, to keep it from irregularity ; and frequently at different places in a moment, in order to fufpend the total ruin of which it was continually in danger, from the ftate of the finances, and the fcarcity of corn. I faw with inexpreffible delight the period at laft ap- proach, when this grand and majeftic meeting of the deputies of twenty-fix millions of men was to take place, a meeting that had been unknown for two centuries j and thefe centuries equivalent to 62 Administration of to an immcnfe interval, from the revolution that was wrought in the minds and manners of the nation. The memory of Frenchmen, as well as their gratitude, is limited to the pre- fent period. Preceding times, the labours that were undertaken, the fatigues that were endured, the pains and anxieties to which the mind was a prey, are all confidered as nothing ; and it would be a ufelefs employment of my time to give a catalogue of them. Such, as I have before obferved, is the courfe of the hu- man mind ; fecurity from dangers, and pre- vention of calamities, are benefits not admitted on the records of obligation. Such a fyftem of requital is furely neither juft nor confci- entious ; but it would be infolent in a mini- ster to complain, fince the majority of mankind obferve no other conduct towards the Su- preme Being himfelf. They fall on their knees, and proflxate themfelves in the duft, when the thunder roars over their heads without linking them, and the lightning ftill flafhes around them ; but when the elements are become tranquil, when the fun returns with its ufual regularity to enlighten and em- bellifli our habitations, and the early beams of Aurora cheer the earth, and compel it to yield 5 its Mr. Neck er. 6$ its fruits in abundance to our defires and our labours, we turn our eyes from this fuccemon of bleffings ; we confider their fweet and tran- quil continuance as an inevitable decree, as the effect of neceflity ; and we become inattentive, or indifferent and ungrateful. The Affembly of the States General began its fittings on the 5th May, 1789. The difcourfe which by the king's order I delivered to them, reminded them of the extent of his generous views. I was defirous of difplaying them in their full force, and for this purpofe I called to my aid the energy of truth. I wifhed to make the virtues of the monarch the bond of union between the throne and the nation. I informed them, in the name of the king, that his defire was to be for ever furrounded by the reprefentatives of his people ; and that he hoped to be indebted to them for his higheft recompence, and the moft ardent object of his prayers the public happinefs, and the gran- deur of the ftate. I explained the immenfe tafk they were called upon to execute, and I reminded them of the anxious hopes of the nation. I obferved " You ought not to confine " your 64 Administration or " your views to the prefent moment, or to & " flight and tranfient reform ; but a conftant, " durable, and beneficial fyftem fhould be the " fruits of your enquiries and labours. Your " fyftem mould correfpond with the impor- u tance of your miflion, and the purity and u greatnefs of your conceptions with the mag- " nitude and dignity of the confidence that is <c placed in you. Wherever you difcover the " poflibility of increafing and fecuring the " public felicity, or perceive a trace that may lead to the profperity of the (late, there your attention mould fix. You are, if I may fo fay, the guardians of ages to come, and it is incumbent on you to mark out the path of their happinefs. You fhould give them caufe to fay hereafter We owe the falutary laws and inftitutions by which our tranquillity is fecured, to a beneficent king, and the National Aflembly that furrounded " him. The branches under the falutary " made of which we repofe ourfelves, belong u to the tree whofe firft feed was planted by " Louis. He watered it with his generous li hands; and the united efforts of the nation " accelerated its growth, and brought it to " maturity." x From c< Mr. Necker. 65 From the nature of my office it became my duty to lay open to the afTembly the ftate of the finances. I explained therefore the gene- ral account, afterwards printed and publifhed, which was drawn up on a new fyftem, where all the articles of revenue and expenditure were feparately clafTed and diftinguifhed from each other, which has been tried by the fever- eft criticifm, and has continually ferved as a guide to the National AfTembly, and its va- rious committees. Meanwhile I was not unaware that the fubject of the public accounts might hereafter be carried to greater perfection, and that fuch a fimplification might above all be expected from a National AfTembly, who, being as it were the hoftage and fecurity of its own juftice, might the more boldly introduce fuck a deviation. " Hereafter," faid I, " when " the financial accounts fhall be reduced to a '* more fimple and perfpicuous form, and a " form at the fame time that fhall be conftant " and invariable, you will have no need of " reforting to adminiftration for intelligence, " as the States General will have in their own " pofTeffion all the materials and documents " that can throw a perfed: light on the fi- F " nances 66 Administration of u nances in general, and all the various *' branches of which they confift." 1 told the afiembly that the king had or- dered his minifters to fecond to the utmoft of their ability the defire which the deputies would feel of obtaining full and complete in- formation upon every fubject. But I know not whether I was juftified in adding : " For u you will not be guided in your enquiries by " a fpirit of criticifm, and aim at perfection from the pleafure of depreciating the efforts " of adminiftration, but that France may en- " joy the ineftimable advantage likely to ac- " crue from your combined wifdom. It is eafy ** to find an error or omifhon in the vaft " whole of which all the parts will be fub- ** mitted to your infpe&ion : neither the or- " der, the method, nor the preliminary en- 4< quiries that were abfolutely necefTary, have " coft any labour to thofe who fit in judg- " ment on them ; and as their minds are at " reft, they can the more eafily, while they " difcufs what is well methodifed and right, " detect fuch overfights as may have efcaped f* the attention of him who fuperintended the ,c whole." The king had long been confcious that ar- 5 rangements Mr. Necker. 6j rangements and reforms above the ftrength of his minifters were necefTary, and in which he himfelf flood in need of the fupport of the States General. This was a delicate idea to promulgate, but I introduced it notwith- ftanding into my difcourfe ; and after a con- cife epitome of reforms that would be at- tended with no difficulty, I added the fol- lowing words : " In fhort, Gentlemen, there " are perhaps fome reductions and favings, " which, to bear the perfect (lamp of reafon " and juftice, it is necefTary mould be called tr for in the name of the affembly of the na- " tion. Thefe his majefty refigns to your " confideration, from his perfect confidence in " your wifdom and prudence." The fentiments of the king refpecting the diftribution of honours made a part of my difcourfe, and I thus expreffed thefe fenti- ments which are fo juftly entitled to the ho- mage of nations. " The king, gentlemen, " has ever adopted with pleafure and efteem tc the plans of order that were propofed to " him, and he ardently hopes that, by giving " new energy to the fentiments of patriotifm, ' you may enhance the value of thofe re- wards, which take nothing from the royal treafury, draw no tears from the mifery F 2 "of 62 Administration of " of the people, and which have been un- " der-rated in public opinion merely in con- " fequence of thofe depraved fentiments, which " have too often united the feeming defire " of diftinction with the love of money." While I exprefled the averfion of the king to every fpecies of abufe, I at the fame time informed the aflembly in the moll unequivocal terms, of the refpect he felt for the engage- ments into which he had entered. I defend- ed the caufe of the creditors of the ftate, and placed their interefts under the guardianfhip of national honour and public faith. I beg leave to cite the words I employed on the oc- cafion. Not that I am defirous of robbing the National Aflembly of the merit to which they are entitled, and the applaufe they have obtained on the fame fubject : there is room for us all in the temple of juftice and morality, which as yet is far from being too much crowded. I fhall tranfcribe the whole pa- ragraph ; it will bear perhaps a fecond reading. " Can it be necefTary that the king mould u affign his reafons for not including a reduc- " tion of the intereft of the public debt among " the means to be ufed for reftoring the equi- 11 librium of the finances ? Need he juftify a 11 meafurc Mr. Necker. 69 meafure of this kind to the States General, " the reprefentatives of a nation celebrated for " its fentiments of honour ? Surely not. There " is a facrednefs about every engagement ; " and when it is the faith of a fovereign, the " head and guardian of a nation's rights, that *' is pledged, and pledged too for the purpofe " of fupplying the extraordinary exigencies of " a war ; when its object has been to exempt *' the property of the nation from a fubfidy, " which it would otherwife have been impof* " fible to raife, no matter what was the object w of the fubfidy, the obligation becomes in- " violable. The king cannot on the one hand " fancYion and fecure the engagements of in- x< dividuals, while on the other he violates the * c ties he has contracted, the promifes he has u given, and the regular and appointed for- " malities eftabliihed for that purpofe. Let " wifer precautions be taken in future ; it is the " hope and defire of his majefty : but at fo M folemn a period as the prefent, when the " nation is called round the throne, not for a " moment, but for a perpetuity, to co-operate " with the views and wifhes of the king, it " mould warmly countenance the fentiments " of honour and fidelity by which his heart F 3 "is jo Administration of " is animated ; fentiments without which the " finer bonds that unite mankind are annihi- *' lated, and they are no longer held together " but by violence and conftraint. There is u no need that the firft fruits of the reftoration " of France mould be tarnifhed by breach of " faith. The deliberations of the moll auguft " affembly upon earth mould be ftamped with " no other feal than that of perfect reafon and " juftice. This ought for ever to be the feal " of political engagements. Every thing elfe <c may undergo changes and revolutions ; but " while men are fortified with thefe great " principles, a valid reafon for defpondence u can never exift. The protection granted " by the king to the creditors of the ftate, and u his unimpeached fidelity, will one day be *' an exalted monument of his moral cha- " racier ; as he might have violated thefe u principles without (landing in need of any " extraordinary affiflance, and without being " refponfible for the various confequences that " would have followed. This perhaps is the " firft advice that the blind advocates of au- " thority, the modern Machiavels, would have " been eager to give him. His majefty feels u more dignity and fatisfaction in co-operat- " ing Mr Necker, 71 " ing with you, gentlemen, to render the " immutable principles of probity and juftice " for ever facred ; he feels more pleafure in " refpecting them than he could derive from " all the fplendid enjoyments of a throne, and " the exercife of unlimited power, which " would lofe its value when it was no longer " employed in thefupport of juftice." To thefe general reflections I added others calculated to enforce the political importance of fulfilling in all cafes the engagements of the ftate, and I proved how ill founded were the advantages propofed to be derived from arbi- trary reductions of intereft. I alfo thought it necefTary to inform the afTembly that the difproportion between the re- venue and expenditure might have been ob- viated without any retrenchment of intereft of the public debt, without having recourfe to any new taxes, or employing any other means than what were to be found in the ordinary documents of adminiftration^ From this truth I drew an important infe- rence : that, as far as the finances only were concerned, the king might have difpenfed with convoking the States General. The National Affembly has always been difpleafed F 4 with 72 Administration of with this part of my difcourfe. I am at a lofs for the reafon of its dipleafure, unlefs it is to be afcribed to the defire it has fhewn to hold all its advantages from the gift of neceflity. Meanwhile, would the work of the conftitu- tion have loft its value, would it have ap- peared lefs dignified and worthy of efteem, if it had been the refult of a pleafing and defina- ble harmony between the wifhes of the fove- reign and thofe of the nation ? It is probably from a negledr. of this idea in the outfet, that .every thing they have undertaken has been by violence, and that they have gone beyond the purpofe they intended. In taking a rerrofpect of former tranfac- tions, it is painful to me to remember how completely my hopes were difappointed when, elate with joy at being able to declare how little ground there was for the clamour that had been raifed refpecting the enormous de- ficit and inextricable embarraf linen t of the finances, and anticipating the impreflion the unexpected intelligence would make on the aflembly, I experienced only its coldnefs and filence. Alas ! I have had full conviction how erroneous it is, in addreffing mankind, to calculate only from the principles and feel- ings Mr. Neck er. 73 ings of our own hearts ; we ought to take the paflions and weaknefTes of men into the account, and proportion our hopes to the fombre profpeet they afford. The reftoring the true balance of the fi- nances was but a part of what was requifite to be done. It was neceffary to keep them in this ftate, to preferve them from " the injuries of " time and the faults of men, and efpecially " from the errors of every minifter and agent ** in whom the fovereign of a great empire is " obliged to confide." It was in this man- ner the king ordered me to exprefs myfelf, and I explained the judicious reafons which induced his majefty to wifh that this care mould de- volve on the reprefentatives of the nation. " His majefty," faid I, " ever actuated by " a fpirit of wifdom, juftice, and beneficence, " has taken the prefent ftate of public affairs " into confideration, and examined it in its " utmoft extent. He has obferved that the " people, terrified at the embarraflment of the " finances and the fituation to which credit is " reduced, are anxious to fee order and confi- " dence reftored in a way that mail not prove " temporary, or be dependent on fuch va- * rious changes as have lately taken place. " This 74 Administration of " This defire of the nation he conceives to be " perfectly juft ; and with a view of gratify- " ing it, and obtaining fo interefting an object, " he has thought it necefiary to appoint new " truftees of the public fecurity, and to place " the finances under the fafeguard, if I may H fo fay, of the whole kingdom." Such was the language I employed in the name of the king ; and, having firft made the facrifice of the credit and influence attached to the diftinguifhed office I held, I concluded this part of my difcourfe with thefe ftriking words : " Let us unite oar efforts, Gentle- " men ; it is the king's will ; let us unite our u efforts fo to arrange things, that in future " the mofl common underftanding may be " able to tranfact the bufinefs of the treafury, " and that no danger may be feared from the " moft inaufpicious fubtlety." It was the firft object of my willies to fee the happinefs of the nation and the profperity of the empire fecured in a manner that mould no longer be precarious. To give to the fub- jeets of France the character of citizens, I conceived to be the Ukclicft means of accom- piiihing it ; and time will prove whether I was deceived in fo ftrongly enforcing the ne- ceffity Mr. Necker. 75 ceflity of uniting prudence and circumfpec- tion with zeal for the public good. " It is neceffary to avoid giving the ene- " mies of public peace and national profpe- " rity, the hope which mull inevitably refult " from the want of harmony between the dif- " ferent powers that difpofe of the deftiny of " France. You will confider the fituation of " the kingdom ; what it is and what it ought u to be in the political balance of Europe : " and in fixing your attention on the' ancient " luftre of the moft refpe&able monarchy in " the world, you will extend your view ; and, c< not fatisfied with the momentary acclama- " tions of the people of France, you will be " ambitious of obtaining the deliberate ap- u plaufe of all foreign nations, of thofe na- " tions w T hofe decifion, unbiafTed by paflion, " may be regarded as the judgment of pofteri- u ty ; of thofe nations who, confidering you " as in the volume of hiftory, will believe " none of your meafures to be permanent, if " you lofe light of what the circumftances of " the empire irrefiftibly demand at your " hands. '* You will therefore avoid all wild fyf- 44 terns, reftrain the illufions of the fancy, and " be y6 Administration op u be diffident of every novel doclrine. You " will not fuppofe the future to have no con- u ne&ion with the paft; you will. not prefer " projects and declamations, which may lead u you into an ideal world, to thofe propofi- tions and defigns, which, lefs dazzling, but more practicable, are expofed to fewer con- tends, and give ftrength and duration to the good we effect. In fhort, you will not be " envious of the triumphs of time, but will " leave fomething for time to erfed; fince, by " attempting to reform at once every thing " that mail appear defective, your own work " will itfelf become imperfed. It is eafy to " perceive that, in a complicated adminiftra- " tion, the juft proportion of its parts is over- " looked by the mod accurate obfervers, " when the whole is conftruded at a fingle c experiment, and there is nothing but abftrad 4 fitnefles to infure its duration." In looking at the events that have happened, we are (truck with the Angularity of this and various other pafTages of the fame difcourfe. There feems alio to be fomething prophetic in the warmth with which I recommended con- cord and unanimity, fo neceflary to the ad- vancement of public happinefs. " Be a u Mr, Necker. yy H Be unanimous," faid I, " in fo important an enterprifc, that you may not difappoint * the wifh of the nation ; be unanimous, that " you may merit the attention of Europe ; be unanimous, that you may without fear trans- mit your names to pofterity, and fecure be- forehand the fcrutinizing approbation of future generations. You are perhaps about " to decide the fate of thefe innumerable ge- " nerations, and they will demand of you an 41 account. Your competitions, your indivi- " dual claims, your perfonal difputes, will in " the immenfity of fpace difappear like a flafh " of lightning, and will leave no trace in the " fucceflion of ages ; but the principles of " union and felicity that you fhall cherifh, " will become the record and as it were the " eternal trophy of your labours and your " patriotifm." I have always derived ftrength from the principles of morality ; I have uniformly re-r commended them as a guide to perfons oc- cupied in affairs of ftate ; and I hefitated not to point out the fame beacon to the deputies of France affembled for the purpofe of rearing the fabric of its felicity. It was thus I ex- preffed myfelf : " A great diverfity and exten- " fire 78 Administration of " five feries of benefits will necefiarily refult l from the fundamental principle of fidelity " which you will tranfmit as facred. It is the u beautiful and proud patrimony of public and " private virtue; it is the prolific trunk which " throws out an infinite number of branches all " bearing in time falutary fruit. In a difcourfe " fan&ioned by the king, and delivered by " his command, what pleafure muft it give " you to hear, that there is but one great na- " tional policy, but one principle of order, of " durability, and of happinefs, and that this " principle is that of the ftricleft morality 1 It " is by deviating from it that we are fo fre- " quently obliged to change our principle of " action ; and that we miftake for (kill what is " nothing more than the art of extricating " ourfelves from difficulties of our own creat- " ing, and of confequence involving ourfelves " in others that require new efforts and new " expedients j whereas in the exercife of truth " and honefly every thing goes on eafily, '* firmly, connectedly, and proclaims the har- tl monious fyftera to be the genuine work of the Supreme Being." I fhall proceed no farther in the recapitula- tion <. Mn.'iNECKER. 79 -? tion I propofed to give of my fentiments at the opening of the States General. It is doubt- lefs time I mould flop, for I no longer feel the fame confidence in myfelf in the revival of ideas tinctured with morality and feeling. I cannot tell the fource of my diftruft ; but I fear that the opinions of mankind have un- dergone a revolution, and that fome uncom- mon alteration has taken place in our moral atmofphere. The calamity is of no ordinary magnitude. We could ill fpare, in the ufual courfe of events, and in the midft of the battles of in- tereft, that ardent expanfion of foul that alone could calm the ftorms of life. What then will now become of us, if, hardened by the view of the feverity, the unkindnefs, the cruelty that is daily exhibited, we no longer acknow- ledge any power but that of argument, any empire but that which is narrowed and ex- tended at pleafure, and which we carefully conftrucl: of fuch tranfitory materials as that paflion may overbear and volition annihilate it ? They know little of mankind who think to govern them by fuch a fpring. Thefe po- litical navigators may talk as they pleafe ; the intrepidity of their tone has no effect upon me, So Administration of me, and I boldly cite them before the bar of pofterity, there to be arraigned for their un- feelingnefs, their injuftice, and their ingrati- tude ; there to vindicate their oftentatious con- tempt for the decifion of unadulterated feeling and the moral principles of common fenfe. In the mean time I am difpofed to combat and have no doubt to repel this difdainful fuperiority in their own way and with their own weapons ; and, lowering therefore the flatefman to the office of a difputant, I (hall go on anfwering the various arguments and objections of our political declaimers. The chief difadvantage of my fituation is, that I am encompaffed by all forts of extra- vagant ideas, and have to defend myfelf at once againft the violent paffions of two op- pofite parties. For example, they all cenfure me for the manner in which I exprefled my- felf as to the union of the three Orders. One party would have had me enforce in the mod unequivocal language the abfolute neceflity of this union, while the other wifhed the idea to be rejected without the lead referve. Another difficulty arifing from my fituation is the being obliged to relate indifcriminately my conduct and my difcourfes, without no- ticing Mr. Necke*. 8 i ticing the important diftin&ion that fome- times exifts between the private opinions of the minifter and the conduit he purfues. The former of thefe are independent and truly, his own ; it is not always the fame with the latter. But omitting a remark which motives of refpect will not permit me to exemplify, I content myfelf with obferving that in my dif- courfe at the opening of the States General I was authorifed by the king to go a ftep be- yond the regulations fpecified in the report of council of 27 December 1788. The inten- tions of the monarch refpetling the perma- nency of the States General, and the powers that were to be accorded to them, were in the iirft place more fully explained ; and I was permitted to inform the two firft Orders that the public good abfolutely required that there fhould be a deliberation in common as to every object of national concern: but with what refpect and forbearance did I endeavour to fecure them the merit of this union, and what care I took that they mould have all the ho- nour refulting from the abdication of their pe- cuniary privileges! A fecond perufal of this part of my fpeech to the States General will G prove $2 Administration of . prove whether it were pofiible to act with greater decorum in purfuit of a juft object, or to employ a language fuited more exactly to the difpofition of men's minds and the cir- cumftances of the moment. Had the two firft Orders been equally defirous of making the fame allowances, and had the third fhewn more patience and forbearance, how many troubles and calamities would have been pre- vented ! This painful idea recurs continually when we look back on paft events. The day that afTembled the deputies of France was neverthelefs glorious and auguft. It was particularly glorious, if we contrafl the calamitous and divided ftate that preceded it, with the emotion that the afpect of fuch an aflembly infpired ; an affembly placed in dig- nified regularity round their king, engrofling the attention and prayers of their country, and anticipating the triumph that awaited the fuc- cefs of their labours. It was indeed a glorious day for him, whole bufmefs it was to be the interpreter of truth in the midft of this temple of liberty, this fabric that fhall for ever per- petuate the virtues of the monarch. In fine, it was a day unfpeakably fplendid for him, who was to pronounce as it were the folemn inaugu- Mr. Nec ke r. 8$ inauguration of a commencing and perennial felicity. It remains for the juftice of mankind and the impartiality of Europe to decide whether I performed the tafk afligned me with pro- priety and dignity. In reading again my dif- courfe at this diftant period, it appears to me to coincide with the exifting circumftances of the times, and with others which were not then forefeen ; and I find in it not a fingle fentiment or expreffion which a faithful mi- nifter, an honeft citizen, and a wife man, might not with confidence have avowed. The States General began their fittings: but before I take a review of my conduct fub- fequent to that period,, I fhall employ a fingle moment, which is truly painful, in reflecting on the fad neceffity which impofes upon me the undertaking. The violent oppreffion of my enemies irrefiftibly incites me ; but I am not on that account the lefs feniible how repug- nant and diitrefling it is to my feelings. It is neceflary, for my own confolation, and for the fake of truth, that I fhould aiTociate in all the cares, in all the circumfpeclion, which, during the fittings of the States General, the events G 2 of 84 Administration of of everyday rendered necefTary,a man to whom I was infeparably attached after my return to adminiftration, and who was a new friend to me, though, when I faw the excellence of his mind and the fincerity of his character, he feemed, from the fimilarity of our fentiments, to have been an old acquaintance. It is M. de Montmorin, a true citizen, though pof- fefling the confidence of his fovereign, and from his infancy contributing to his happinefs and glory. What efforts have we not made together to fecure the permanence of a liberty that mould not pafs the bounds of wifdom, to defend it fometimes againft the ftorms by which it was threatened, and fometimes againft exaggerations which weakened its bafis, and of which we forefaw all the danger ! To the king we endeavoured to exculpate, or rather we palliated proceedings at which he might have taken umbrage ; and to the de- puties in the National AfTembly we employed a language calculated to filence their diftrufts, and to bring back the moft vehement to mo- derate opinions. In fhort,' conftant fpectators of the animofities and diffenfions which fo early difplayed themfelves in the National Af- fembly, we devoted our whole attention to the means . Mr. Necker. 85 means of conciliating them, and directing the general fentiment to the public good. I entertained fome hope when I fucceeded in eflablifhing a conference between a number ,of committees chof en by the three Orders ; and which was to be held in the prefence of the Ring's mirrifters. The firft queftion to be dif- cufled was the important one of the verifica- tion of the powers. But a flop was put to every thing by a mifunderftanding on a point which it was previoufly neceffary to fettle ; and in the courfe of the difpute the minds of the negociators became every moment more inflamed. It was of the higher! importance to effect a reconciliation, without which nothing could be done for the public good ; but many conferences were occupied in long debates, in which each party fhewed the moft zealous at- tachment to the unqualified fupport of its rights and principles. At laft, authorifed by his majefty, I opened a way of accommodation that was fo reafon- able, and coincided fo completely with the claims of the oppofing parties, that all ought, one would think, to have accepted it. The attempt however was fruitlefs ; and as the iflue of this conference has produced the moft G 3 ferioui 86 Administration of ferious confequences, it will not, I conceive, be uninterefting to call them to mind. We fhall fee how the firft and almoft imper- ceptible lines of difunion frequently lead to variances of which it is impomble to flop the progrefs. The Nobleffe and the Clergy were defirous that each of the Chambers mould examine fe- parately and without the concurrence of the other two the validity of the election of the deputies of its own Order, and the legality of the powers committed to them. The Tiers-Etat on the contrary infifted that this examination mould be made in an affem- bly of the three Orders combined. Neither party would yield in the fmalleft degree to the claims of its opponents, when his majefty's minifters interfered, and took a decided part in the difpute. It was certainly for the interefl; of the three Orders that no party mould abufe its power by admitting or rejecting with partiality the deputies who came to claim their feats in the States General. This intereft was indifputable, if the Orders were to deliberate in common ; it was equally apparent on the fuppofition that they were to deliberate feparately, fince the formation Mr. Nec ker. 87 formation of one divifion of a legiflative body could not be indifferent to any of the reft. In the mean time fears were entertained of the preponderance of the Tiers-Etat, if the abfolute decifion of the elections were to de- volve on the three Orders united ; and I made myfelf an obfervation that was new upon this fubject. <c It was by no means included in 11 the propofed conceffion that the Tiers-Etat * Q mould have an influence calculated to in- " creafe the number of their adherents ; this " would have been to deftroy their propor- " tionable fhare in the balance of the confti- u tution, and to have attributed to them an " inequitable and oppreffive tendency to a per- " petual increafe of their confequence." It refulted from thefe difficulties that the decifion of the difputes refpecting the validity of the elections properly devolved on him whofe province it had been to fix the re- fpective number of deputies of the three Or- ders ; and the example of preceding times was in favour of this opinion. It was this which led me to fay in the conference : '* that ct the three Orders, who complied with the " decifion of the king in fixing the number of " deputies, would make but a frivolous ex- G 4 " ception 88 Administration op " ception if they refufed to admit him as the * c arbitrator of the very few contefts that could " arife as to the verification of the powers. u The true intereft of his majefty, and the u only intereft that actuates him, is the love " of union; and he is in this inftance worthy " of being your arbitrator, however unwilling " you may be, as a general principle, to ad- " mit the monarch as the judge." The king however not wiihing to preferve any greater portion of his right than was ne- ceflary for the removal of difficulties, I made to the committee of the three Orders a pro- pofal of fo unexceptionable a nature that I mall tranferibe it word for word, without omitting the few fentences of recommendation with which it was accompanied. " The three Orders might, by an act of " free and liberal confidence, mutually refer ** the verification of the powers, in cafes u where any difficulty arofe, and communicate ' to each other the documents and evidence " for the purpofe of a rapid and general *' review. " They may farther agree ; " That any difputes which might arife " mould Mr. Necker. 89 " fhould be referred to the examination of a " committee fele&ed from the three Orders : " That this committee fhould make a re- " port of their opinion : " That this report fhould be laid before the " Chambers refpe&ively : " That if it were approved, it fhould be '.' confidered as final : 44 That if, on the contrary, the decifion of " the Orders were in oppofition to it, and " there was no probability of conciliating the f c difpute, the bufinefs fhould be referred to " the king, whofe judgment fhould be final. " They might farther agree, that this mode <c of determining the verification of the powers, " fhould have nothing to do with the grand " queition of deliberating in common, or in " feparate Orders; they might add that the " proceeding adopted upon the prefent oc- " cafion fhould be refumed in the courfe of " the feflion, to confider if any better mode (C can be devifed as to the future ; and they " might add any other precautions that might f c be thought expedient : but let this or fome " other means of conciliation be adopted, and " let not the king be the only perfon in the f* nation continually interefling himfelf in " the 90 Administration op " the eftablifhment of peace and unanimity. ' What true citizen can refufe to comply with " the wifhes of the beft of kings, who fees <{ with the deepeft concern the many cala- " mities that may arife from diflenfions in the " firft ftep of a career to which the welfare of " the ftate calls you, in which the nation is " anxious to fee you proceed, and where " the greateft dangers encompafs you? Alas! " could you even accomplifh this welfare by " variance of opinion and animofities of heart, " it w r ould be bought too dear. The king *' then invites you to take into confideration " his propofal, and he earneftly entreats you " to give him the fatisfaction that will refult " from your accepting it." It is difficult to conceive how fo rational a propofition, made in fo becoming a manner, in which the king no farther interfered than was neceflary to conciliate the minds of the reprefentatives, could be rejected. That the deputies of the Commons, confeious of the power with which public opinion had inverted them, fhould fee with pleafure the refufal of the Xoblefle and the Clergy, is not to be won- dered at; but that the two higher Orders fhould not have felt the propriety of fetting 7 an Mr. Necker. 91 an example of deference to the conciliatory- views of the king, a deference that, at this cri- tical period, would have been followed by that of the Commons, is a degree of impolicy that cannot well be explained. How many reafons had they for purfuing a different conduct ! It was a mere punctilio that prevented them ; but this punctilio was not lefs the caufe of the breaking up of the conferences, a circum- ftance to which a confiderable feries of events may be imputed. An aflembly of men met together for public affairs, offers to the mind of the fpectator a variety of reflections, I believe that a fet of negociators, brought together for the purpofe of adjufting a controverfy, can fcarcely be ex- pected to agree when they are merely the re- prefentatives of reprefentatives ; and fuch was the committee appointed by the national de- puties. There is need fomewhere of a centre of communication to harmonize the feelings ; there is need, either in the elector or the elected, of fome general medium for recon- ciling diftant interefts, vague ideas, and pro- fpects of the future, fince in the war of the pafhons it is only by future and not by mo- mentary 92 Administration of mentary iuterefts, that they can be reconciled and united. This and other obfervations have con- vinced me of the inutility of conferences in general with a certain number of deputies. The difculTion mould take place in the midft of an alTembly whofe deliberations were final, if we would produce any falptary influence on the opinions of men. We ought to combat againft the general palTions, the only ones againft which we can make a regular attack, the only ones againft which it is honourable to have to ftruggle, the only ones with which reafon and genius can worthily treat. Suchis the fituationof Englifh mini fters, and fuch hereafter will be thofe of prance, unlets it is the defire to reduce them to a level with clerks of the National AlTembly, and they are themfelves fo fervile as to fubmit to the de- gradation. For my own part, I have been fubjected to every difficulty of fituation of which it is pof- fible to form an idea. I could find in hiftory no example to affift me ; and my duties, the critical (late of affairs, and the difpofition of the public mind, were continually opening before me a new and unbeaten path. Placed between Mt NECKfii j between the throne and the nation, between the difrepute of old and the pride of new opinions, between obfolete maxims of policy and the neceflity of innovation and reform, between the imperious yoke of habits and the impetuofity of revolutions, between the fixed fcience of pad experience and the irregular fucceffion of the moft unforefeen events ; in fhort, between the obligations of the prefent period and thofe of virtues which are eternal, there was danger every day of my committing fome error, and error perhaps of the moft fatal tendency. It was a reflection I often made with my colleagues in office : but, though I am unfortunately miftruftful of myfelf, though I have all my life been in the habit of looking back on the tranfa&ions in which I have been concerned to correct my firft judgment, and though my mind is thus haunted with ap- prehenfions, in which my confcience has no fhare, I can neverthelefs fay, and it is to my own aftonifhment, that I feek in vain for caufe of felf reproach. Other men may think dif- ferently, not only from a party fpirit, but be- caufe they are ignorant of the difficulties that were continually fpringing up on every fide, becaufe they are unacquainted with the various precautions 4)4 Administration of precautions which known and unknown cif* cumftances rendered neceffary. Thefe pecu* liarities of fituation efcape the notice of the generality of fpectators, who feldom take the pains to inquire into them, or trace their con- nection with the leading views of the mi- nifter. Men of moderate talents would in vain attempt it : their narrow underftandings can take in but one fimple idea at a time, or at beft but a poftulate and a conclufion, and the immenfe fpace between is an unknown country in which they are bewildered. I wifli only to call to mind the principal tranfactions of my fecond adminiftration, and I muft do this with brevity, as, in the bufy fcenes in which men are engaged, little time will be given to things that are paffed : a re- flection that would totally difcourage me, if it were for the prefent moment only I had un- dertaken to write. The difpute refpe&ing the verification of powers continued to divide the three Orders, and a concuflion of a ftill more violent kind was added to it, which arofe from the defire of the Commons for a lingle houfe of deli- beration, and the contrary demand on the part of Mr. Neck e r. 95 of the Noblefle and the Clergy of a feparate one for each Order. All hopes of reconciliation were annihilated, the minds of the contending parties were every day more inflamed, and the bufihefs of the ftate was fufpended. Every good citizen was alarmed at this ftagnation, while among the parties fome hoped that it would bring on a diffolution of the States Ge- neral, and others that it would ferve as a pretext for the adoption of more decifive mea- fures, for which they were ripe, completely to overturn the conftitution. In a fituation like this, the filence and in- activity of the monarch wouLd neither have been becoming, nor confident with dignity. The king could not be an indifferent fpectator of the dangers which threatened the ftate; he had already tried in vain to effect an accom- modation by the interpofition of his minifters, and it was time for him to appear in a different character. It was my opinion that he would act wifely, by granting to the two firft Orders a right of deliberating feparately refpecting meafures which affected only their individual and perfonal concerns, and obliging them to unite with the Commons as to every thing which regarded the general intereft, and par- ticularly 96 Administration of ticularljr the formation of future National AA femblies. I conceived that the king ought at the fame time, both on his own account and for the good of the ftate, to confirm in an authentic manner his acquiefcence in all the regulations contained in the report of council of 27 December 1788 ; that he ought even to extend his declaration ftill farther, and fo meet the general wifhes of the nation. Among other particulars I had included in this new report of the beneficent views of his majefty, the admifiion of all citizens to civil and mili- tary offices ; the annihilation of the rights of fervitude, in imitation of what he had himfelf renounced as to his own domains ; the power of redeeming burthenfome fervices at a fti- pulated price, and other objects of a fimilar kind, obferving at the fame time the ftricteft juftice towards the proprietors. In fhort, in fpeaking of the new conftitution, the king merely exprcffed his opinion of the propriety and neceffity of having two chambers, and that, as to every thing elfe, he referred himfelf to the views that mould be prefented to him by the National Afiembly. The refult of the whole of my ideas was that the king, by preferving what belonged to his Mr. Necker,* 97 his own dignity, and by prudently yielding beforehand to the law of neceflity, would put the States General again in motion, and eflen- tially ferve the two firft Orders by giving them an opportunity of honourably renouncing the arbitrary fyftem they had embraced, and which circumftances would not permit them to maintain* The proceeding I advifed was doubtlefs delicate ; but fomething was necef- fary to be done, and fomething that mould unite the Orders into one affembly, and put a Hop, in a regular or at leaft peaceable man- ner, to the ftate of divifion which every mo- ment threatened to bring upon us the greateft calamities. In fhort, I had accompanied the feveral articles of this plan with every thing that was likely to gain it a favourable re- ception with the public; but to judge properly of it at prefent, we ought to be able by the medium of recollection to go back to the epocha of the beginning of June 1789; we ought to have an accurate idea of the un- certainty and agitation, the hopes and fears, and the general fituation of the minds of men, at that period as yet fo little diftant from the opening of the States General : but it would H be 98 Administration of be difficult to do this at a time when a crowd of events have led much farther than was in- tended by the advice I gave; and we mull: pardon the two firft Orders, or their agents at court, for fo warmly oppofing a meafure, which, with a little more forefight, they would have found confident with true wifdom. I had but one moment of hope, and that was when I explained my ideas to the council, and was heard favourably by the king ; for I was foon attacked in every poflible way. It was univerfally agreed that it was neceflary for the king to interfere, but they wifhed it to be with a very different fpirit ; and by degrees, appearing at the fame time to preferve a part of my plan, they took away every thing that was effential to it, and that could make it ac- ceptable to the Commons. They adopted here and there fome of my expreffions, at the be- ginning and the end ; but, by a Angularity that was remarkable, the ftyle I had employed, which was firm and elevated, and which was peculiarly proper, when the monarch was en- joining the two firft Orders to unite with the Commons in the important work of the public good, they conceived to be equally applicable to Mr. Necker, 99 to a proceeding of a directly contrary fpirit, and the effect produced by it was aukward in the extreme. I defended my own ideas, and controverted the new project: with my utmofl ability. I refilled firmly. the opinion of the princes who took a part in the difcuffion ; and preferving to the laft moment the hope that reafon would be triumphant, I at length reflected liow it became me to act as to myfelf ; and my opinion was, after mature deliberation and various ftruggles with my feelings, which the ferioufnefs of the occafion authorifed, that I could neither with honour be prefent at the fitting of 23 June, nor continue any longer in adminiftration. My fituation was equally painful and embarrafiing ; on the morning of this memorable day the agitation of my mind {till continued; and if I did not inform the king of my final determination, it was folely from the fear of receiving a pofitive command, which it would have been impofTible for me to obey. The general commotion which was excited in the Commons and in Paris, by this ftep of the king and his declaration in the National H 2 Affembly, ioo Administration of Affembly, cannot be forgotten. The perform who had advifed his majefty, were eager to attribute this commotion to ray abfence from the aflerhbly; but on men of difcernment fuch an infinuation could have no effect. The public opinion In important tranfactions is not determined by a lingle circumftance ; the project of 23d June proved abortive for the very reafons I had predicted ; and it was nei- ther in my power nor in that of any other perfon to have fupported fuch a meafure. I will go farther, and fay that it was my abfence from the aflembly which mollified in fome de- gree the irritation of the Commons and the difcontent of the public, becaufe they quickly inferred from it that fome of the council had been inimical to the proceeding ; and the proofs of kindnefs and confidence which I re- ceived the fame day from the king having de- termined me to keep my place, all doubts re- fpecting his majefty's intentions were quickly difpelled ; and thus by my conduct on this occafion I fecured the power of ferving both the king and the nation. I withftood the folicitations of many ju- dicious friends, better verfed than myfelf in the Mr. Necker. ioi the court and in its intrigues, who advifed me to refign, afluring me that I fhould foon fall a victim to the influence of thofe whofe coun- fels had in fo ferious and important a bufinefs prevailed over mine. I was equally deaf to the infinuations of thofe who confidered my refignation as the sera of a fignal revolution, and who wifhed me to underftand that fuch a determination on my part would foon be followed by the moft fplendid triumph. The attempts were renewed with as little fuccefs when it was known that I had tried in vain to procure the difmiflion of the minifters whofe oppofition to my projects was openly avowed. My intimate friends will do me the juftice to fay that I was perfectly acquainted with the dangers that furrounded me ; thefe dangers were not new to me, as I had long lived in the midlt of every fpecies of inquietude. I alfo perceived the extremity to which we were reduced for want of provifions, and I perceived it with fuch conviction, that, re- turning to my houfe in the evening of 23d June attended with the acclamations of the multitude, I faid to a few friends who were H 3 with 102 Administration of with me in my cabinet: "I comply But " this very people, who now follow me with u their benedictions, will, perhaps, before " the expiration of a fortnight, attack me " with (tones." Meanwhile in fpite of my fears, and notwithstanding the various re- commendations with which my retreat was attended, I perfifted in difcarding the idea. My prefence I conceived was neceffary in the critical fituation of affairs, and I thought myfelf flill able to -render fame fervice {o the public. I delayed not to avail myfelf of the momenr tary revival of my credit to engage his majef- ty to write to the NoblefTe and the Clergy the letter which effected the union of the three Orders ; but the plan I had propofed for this purpofe, previous to the Stance Royale t was no longer practicable. The agitation and tumult that prevailed, the circumftances that were known to every body, and others of which we have fince been informed by private chan- nels, in ihort a (late of crifis, which is ftill pre- fent to my mind, made the union of the Orders indifpenfable ; and if the deputies of the Clergy and the NoblefTe had been defirous of giving 8 their Mr. Necker. 103 their fecret opinions on the fubject, they mull have acknowledged, that, in the lingular pre- dicament in which they were placed, the king confulted their true interefts by inducing them honourably to acquiefce in a meafure, which it was impoflible for them to avoid. Be this however as it may, the union of the Orders, which ought to be confidered as the xra when the labours of the representatives of the nation commenced, this union which pre- vented the greateft calamities, this union fo ar- dently defired by every good citizen, was ce- lebrated at Verfailles, at Paris, and throughout the kingdom by three days illuminations, and nothing was to be feen but the moft fplendid demonftrations of public joy. Meanwhile whoever will take the trouble to examine the particulars of my conduct, -will ever find me moft active in thofe circum- ftances in which the nation at large moft deeply interefted itfelf, and in thofe decifions that were beft calculated to afcertain the prefervation or re-eftablifhment of general tranquillity. I had entered on the duties of my new en- gagement, free from diftruft, and with a zeal H 4 that 104 Administration of that knew no bounds ; and I freely confefs, To neceffary did I fuppofe myfelf to public affairs, that I was more aftonifhed than any perfon at the king's determination of 1 1 th July. I was ignorant, it is true, of the fcience of intrigue ; I had never ftudied it. I had placed my ftrength on other means, and I had always difdained even to look at thofe by-paths, where depraved courtiers plan the defeat of a virtuous ftatef- man, and concert the ruin of a minifter whofe character thwarts their defigns. I mould have blufhed at feeling any anxiety to difcover the fecret of fuch artifices, and I had no leifure for the ftudy. I fhall not relate the events which followed my retreat from office, they are known to all Europe ; I did not expect that it would have produced fo aftonifhing effects, but it was fuf- fkient that I believed in thepoflibility of fome remarkable impreflion to induce me carefully to avoid every thing by which it might be ex- cited or increafed. I was therefore folely in- tent on punctually obferving the order of his majefty, which was to withdraw myfelf with- out noife. I received the order a little after three o'clock, and fo fuccefsfully did I exert myfelf Mr. Necker. 105 myfelf to reftrain my emotion before the company who dined with me, that no one per- ceived the fenfations by which my heart was rent. On rifing from table I confided to ma- dam Necker alone the orders I had received, and at half after five we got into the carriage without changing our drefs, and without any preparation or precaution. We ordered the coachman, according to our ufual cuftom, to take us a ihort excurfion; and after we were at the diftance of two hundred yards, having firft flopped a moment to alk our attendants if they were difpofed to accompany us out of the kingdom^ we took the way to the firft poft town. My daughter and my moll inti- mate friends were ignorant of our route till the next morning. We travelled night and day : we made no ftop ; and madam Necker, notwithftanding her weaknefs from ill health, difplaying nothing but courage, we performed the journey from Verfailles to Bruxelles with an expedition equal to that of poft difpatches. Two officers, who had received fecret orders to follow us, gave on their return a fimilar ac- count of our journey. Such was tl*e conduct of the minifter, who, lo6 Administration of who, in the lying portraits (ketched by wri- ters of the prefent day, is reprefented as a man of the mod reftlefs policy and the moft ftub- born ambition. Meanwhile, before his dif- grace, he alone was blind to the machinations of his enemies, he alone had no faith in the fuccefs of their intrigues ; and the moment he was informed of the king's determination, far from feeking to create difturbance, far from wi(hing to intereft the feelings of any one, he withdrew himfelf with as much diligence as fecrecy, not merely from the court, not merely from the capital, but from the kingdom, from a country to which he had confecrated his labours and his life. Such ambition, fuch po- licy, is not at leaft of the kind we have been accuftomed to obferve. It was after having travelled acrofs the whole German dominions to go to my eftate at the foot of Mount Jura, that, arrived at Bfrie, I re- ceived two letters which every body is ac- quainted with, one from the king, the other from the National Affembly, inviting me to return and refumc my office at the helm of affairs. My mind (till agitated, my foul alive to the events which I had juft experienced, having Mr. Necker, 107 having no longer a wi(h but for retirement, and embellifhing already my future life with the fpoils of the paft, I was like a man {tunned, I confefs, when I confidered the fudden change of all my profpects, and the retrograde courfe which my thoughts muft purfue. I did not however hefitate. It was eafy to perceive that I expofed my reputation to new hazards, at the moment that events independent of my own determination had placed it in fafety : but a moral principle, a principle of duty de- termined me ; and foon, more devoted than ever to my inviolable love for France, I believ- ed myfelf tobe actuated by no other fentiment. Care however has been taken to afcribe to perfonal confiderations the moft generous fa- cririce, a facrifice which induced me to place myfelf in the midft of the dangers of an intef- tine war, to return knowingly to the horrors of famine, and, with a mind of gentlenefs and feeling, to mix again in events already marked w 7 ith ferocious and fanguinary features . Alas! after having withdrawn from France with fo much pliability and difcretion, after returning with fuch fubmiffion, fuch alacrity, fuch zeal, fuch felf oblivion, I had never fup- pofed that within the revolution of a fingle year, io8 Administration op year, every day of which could tell of fome new fervice I had done, 1 mould have caufe to fhed bitter tears over the injuftice and ingrati- tude of thofe from whom 1 afked no other re- turn than kindnefs for a difintereftednefs that is without example. Let us however refume the narrative of my conduct, and trace with a melancholy pencil the feries of recent events. I returned into France, and at the very outfet I exerted my endeavour, at fight of the exceffes that were every where committed, to calm the minds of the multitude. I flopped every inftant on the road, and, by means of exhortations and the moft earneft entreaties, I ftrove to diffufe a fpirit of peace and fentiments of mildnefs and conciliation ; availing myfelf at the fame time of the proofs of attachment they fhewed me, to excite a horror at violence and injuftice. I had frequently the good fortune to produce fome efFecT:, and the promifes I demanded and obtained mingled themfelves at the bottom of my heart with their benedictions. Ah ! with what ecftafy did I then feel the almighty power of virtue ! How lovely was its autho- rity ! and how did it embellifh in my eyes the people that fubmitted to it ! I met Mr. Necks*. 109 I met on my way a confiderable numbef of Frenchmen, whom the events at Paris and the afTaffinations committed neat the Hotel* de-Ville had chilled with horror and affright, and Who were going to feek a retreat ia another country. I then firft learned thofe bloody fcenes, and my eyes wet with tears turned towards Bale. It was too late ! I looked up to heaven, and I ardently invoked its aid that I might fucceed in converting a miftaken people from their blind barbarities, in reclaiming them to fentiments of humanity, and in effacing the (lain which their guilty violences had caft on the character of the nation. Occupied with thefe reflections, I took upon myfelf on the road to fufpend the orders which had been given for conducting a pri- foner * to Paris, who was the object of public attention and who would not at fuch a mo- ment have efcaped the popular fury. The tribunals have fince pronounced him innocent; and thus, by preferving him from the firft ex- cefTes of an irritated people, I have faved them at the fame time from an additional caufe of remorfe. Meanwhile this kind of daring * M. de Bezenval. meafure, no Administration of meafure, which had been dictated by the con- fidence I felt, I was afterwards obliged to ex- plain and defend, and this was the principal object of my fpeech of 30th July in the afTem- bly of the H6tel-de-Ville. How great and happy a day for me! What a pleafant and memorable epocha does it form in my life ! After receiving on the part of an immenfe mul- titude the moft flattering proofs of attach- ment, I obtained from their numerous depu- ties affembled at the H6tel-de-Ville, and afterwards from the people themielves, accom- panied with fhouts of joy, not only the per- fect freedom of the prifoner I had defended, but a complete oblivion of every caufe of grievance and fufpicion, a general abjuration of the fentiments of animofity and revenge with which their minds had been hurried away, and a fort of peace and reconciliation with that large body of citizens, fome of whom had already left their country and others were on the point of withdrawing. This honourable determination, which feemed as it were to purify the atmofphere and an- nihilate all traces of the itorm, was the fruit of my tears. I demanded it in the name of the enthufiafm they felt for me at the mo- ment ; Mr. Nec ker. hi ment ; I demanded it as a recompence for the facrifice I had made, and the only recom- pence I wifhed ever to receive. I fell on my knees, I humbled myfelf in every poffible way to fucceed; I exerted in fhort all the powers of my mind, and, feconded by the eloquence of a humane and generous citizen *, I obtained the object of my prayers, which was granted with a unanimous voice and all the enthufiaftic fervour that could render it ftill dearer to my heart. People of France, how great did you appear on this day ! How did the fentiments of magnanimity you dis- played prove you worthy of liberty, and exalt you to the character of citizens ! How did your various feelings and fucceflive emo- tions recal to the obfervation of Europe that happy mixture of urbane manners and fen- fibility of character for which you had fo long been celebrated! I beg leave to tran- fcribe in this place the refolution of the ge- neral aiTembly of electors chofen by the com- monalty of Paris. It is not for myfelf, whofe triumph has been fhort, that I wifh to do this, but for you virtuous citizens who crowded the halls of the H6tcl-de-Ville, it is * M. de Clermont-Tcnnerre. in ii2 Administration op in honour of you and to place your names apart and out of the reach of thofe fcenes of horror with which pofterity will one day reproach the age in which you live. (t HoTEL-DE-VlLLE. * General Assembly of Electors. " 30th July 1 789. " In confequence of the juft, fublime, and tc pathetic reprefentations of M. Necker, the *' affembly of electors, imprefled with fimi- " lar feelings of juftice and humanity, or- u dains that the day of this minifter's return M into France, whofe prefence was fo de- <c firable and neceffary, fhould be confider- u ed as a feftival : the afTembly therefore, in " the name of the inhabitants of this capital, " and fure of their approbation, declares, u that its enemies are pardoned, that it pro- " fcribes every act of violence contrary to " the prefent decree, and that it will here- after regard thofe as the only enemies of the nation, who by any excefs fhall dif- turb the public tranquillity. u Be it farther ordained that this refolu- " tion fhall be read in every parilh church, " be Mr. Neck er. iij u be proclaimed in all the ftreets by found of ' trumpet, and fent to all the municipalities " of the kingdom ; and that the applaufe it " obtains (hall be regarded as the criterion of " good citizens* " Given at the H6tel-de-Ville 30 July 1 789. " MoREAU DE S. MERY, 1 ^ r . _ _ y vPrefidents* " DE LA VIGNEj j " DUVERYER, <e Bertholio, ** Garnier, " Desroche, " Deliesse, ? Secretaries*'* _.j 1 could wifh for room to tranfmit the names of all thofe who participated in this memorable at. You fhall never be forgotten by me, you my only benefactors, you who made me enjoy in a fingle moment the de- lights of an age ; and I regret that I cannot render you a homage equal to my gratitude* How pure was my felicity on that day! Every inftant of it is engraven on my me- mory, and I cannot yet recoiled: it without emotion. I fecured the return of peace; and I ufed no other means than the language I of H4 Administration o* ofreafon and virtue. This idea pervaded all the affections of my heart, and for a moment I conceived myfelf as placed between heaven and earth. How complete was my felicity when I returned to Verfailles ! The late fa- crifice I had made, the dangers to which I had been expofed, thofc which ftill impended over me, were all forgotten. The acclamations of the people, which I again experienced, had now a fuperior charm ; they feemed ail at once to have affumed a different nature ; they feemed, like that purer atmofphere which is to be found in the mod elevated regions, to have fomething in them celeftial and divine, and my heart and my mind dwelt upon them with tranfport. But alas! this fublime felicity, as I have already ob- ferved, was of fhort duration ; it vanifhed like a dream, and with it my deareft hopes. .So foon as the night of this memorable day every thing was changed. The leaders of the democracy were occupied with other thoughts; they wifhed to fhow neither lenity nor for- givenefs; they flood in need of all the paffions of the people, of its miftruft in par- ticular ; and they were unwilling, be the confequence as it might, that any important event Mr. Nec ker. T15 event mould be afcribed to my intreaties and influence. They aflembled therefore tfys diftridls, and they knew what arts to employ fuccefsfully to irritate them againft a decree which had been adopted by their reprefen- tatives, by the electors whom they had themfelves nominated, by the general aflembly of the H6tel-de-Ville, and which had been ratified by the ardent wifti of the nation. The National Affembly was my hope againft this unfortunate oppofition; but, alas, they gave it their approbation, and I faw the momentary edifice of my happinefs com- pletely overturned. AriTl on what had this happinefs depended ? On a defire of retaining in the kingdom thofe perfons who by their wealth and expenfive mode of living fupported and encouraged labour and induftry; of feeing perfecution and hatred give place to fen- timents of confidence a,nd magnanimity ; of preventing that alienation the inevitable con- fequence of fears and alarms which we difdain to compofe ; of preferring the French nation from the tribunal of that dreadful inquifition, known by the name of Committee of Inquiry \ in fhort, of making liberty more amiable, by giving it a lefs favage afpecl:, and by pointing I 2 out Ji6 Administration of out its alliance with kindnefs, forbearance and lenity, the moll beautiful ornaments of human nature and the virtues of which it has the greateft need. How many misfortunes might have been prevented, if the refolution entered into at the Hotel- de-Ville had not been repealed, and the facred impulfe of the people defpifed ! They have never been willing to make a trial of what great virtues might effecl: ; the word patriotifm, vague in its meaning and little underftood, it was thought might iupply their place : but it is not to the force of prevailing opinions, it is not elpecially to their exaggeration, that I give this appellation; it rather confifts, in my opinion, injuftice to all, in general phi- lanthropy, and in thofe mutual courtefies, which ought equally to fubiift between political powers and pretenfions, as between perfonal and individual interefts. It is in this manner general happinefs is produced ; it is in this manner the grand edifice of focial order is placed on an immoveable bafis. One word more about myfelf, relative to the aflembly of the H6tel-de-Ville, and the demand I there made. If my requeft had been prefumptuous, if the regret I ftill feel have Mr. Necker. 117 have fprung from apprehenfion, I fhould at lead have a right to complain of a flagrant inftance of injuftice. He who confecrated the firft moments of his return, and the firft trial of his ftrength to the defending from unbridled refentment the very party who had driven him out of the kingdom, was not lefs the obj eel: of its perfevering enmity. And by a fingular fa- tality, this very perfon has offended beyond forgivenefs another party, for having in- terefted himfelf againft this oppreflion, and gained over to his fentiments the reprefenta- tives of the people, and, for the moment at leaft, the people themfelves. It was on this occafion that, in a private committee, the leaders of the prevailing party entered into a formal refolution to dejlroy my -popularity: I make ufe of their own words. Noble and virtuous project, to which they contributed by every poflible practice, to which they devoted themfelves with the raoft unremitting fledfaftnefs, and which by a variety of manoeuvres, and by incefTant libels, they brought, after much pains, to the moll happy conclufion ! But for whom was it happy ? For the flate, whofe profperity was J 3 the 1 1 8 Administration of the inceflant object of my labours ? For France, to whom I was united by fo many ties of affection ? For the people, whom I had all my life courageoufly defended ? For liberty, of which I laid the firft foundations ? For the king, who had never found a more faithful fervant? For i But I will purfue my queftions no farther ; for in thefe days of faction to whom fhould I addrefs them ? At fuch a period a man is no longer any thing, unlefs indeed he may ftill ferve as a holocauft to the rage of the wicked; but they have completed my facrifice, and I cannot even be of this ufe to them. I addrefs myfelf then to Europe and to pofterity; it is them only whom I venture to interrogate ; it is they alone who will one day be able to anfwer me. I was thus however deferted by both par- ties, after yielding to an impulfe of genero- fity, and after having performed an action, in which I was more than ever unmindful of all perfonal confiderations to think of the intere'ft of others and that of the public. I have now no other refuge than the remem- brance of a pure and fpotlefs conduct ; but time will enhance the value of this confolation, fince it carries us rapidly towards the fhores 8 of Mr. Necker. i r 9 of that immenfe abyfs, where an unknown but folemn tribunal prefects itfelf on the op- pofite more, of which confcience is here the archetype. I go on with the plan I have marked out for myfelf; but while I felecl the leading meafures of my adminiftration and fuch as I ought not to omit, I greatly regret that I can- not fta^ to relate a number of minuter circumftances, which continually occur to my mind as fo many daily fervices, fo many virtuous and patriotic actions, and fo many claims on the public gratitude. The reader will forgive this feeming egotifm ; it is not of my individual felf, but of another felf that I fpeak; for fituated as I am at pre- fent, far from the fociety of men, at the foot of lofty mountains, liftening to the monoto- nous noile of the furge, which prefents no other idea than the equal march of time, hav- ing no profpect before me but a long folitude, a filent retreat which the fhadows of eternal night begin already to overcaft, in this fitua- tion I am totally unconnected with that late minifter hurried away by events, agitated by the paffions of the world, and continually 1 4 > ftruggling 120 Administration of ftruggling in the toils of injuftice; I am to- tally unconnected with him but by the emo- tions of fenfibility, as all the ties which faften the heart to felf-love, to a fondnefs for power, to a defire of glory, are broken. I can treat this minifter as a flranger ; I can now give my opinion of his conduct without being reftri&ed to that code of lies and half-truths, which, that we may avoid the imputation of vanity, prefcribes to us to fpeak of ourfelves the reverfe of what we think. Thofe conn- derations of decorum, thefe worldly orna- ments we may leave behind us, when, re- moved from the intercourfe of men, we live by the laws of our own minds. I add one word in anfwer to a reproach which I have perhaps merited. It has been faid that in many of my writings I have fpoken too much of myfelf ; but it has been almoft always to vindicate myfelf from oppreflion that I have done it ; for, I know not why, one has an unwillingnefs to truft one's defence to any but onefclf. I follow, as the reader perceives, the impulfe of my thoughts, much more than the metho- dical arrangement of my fubjecT:. I return however from my digreflion. My firfb care, on. Mr. Necker. 121 on refummg my office at the end of July 1789, was to deferve the confidence of his majefty by recommending to him proper perfons to fill the other departments of ad- miniftration. Three of the mod diftinguifhed characters of the preceding miniftry, M. de Montmorin, M. de la Luzerne, and M. de S.Prieft had been already recalled, and the na- tion had applauded the meafure. I pointed out four other perfons, fome of whom the king intrufted with particular offices and ad- mitted the others into his council. Three of them were members of the national afTembly, and in addition to the moft eminent qualities were entitled to the praife of having proved themfelves the popular and firm partifans of the principles of the conftitution, in the fenfe at leaft in which thofe principles had been firft explained and uYiderftood. The fourth, marfhal de Beauvau, was particularly known to the king; he had been one of Monfieur's committee in the afTembly of Notables, and his excellent judgment and generous charac- ter led him to join with the majority of the committee in favour of doubling the reprefen- tatives of the Tiers-Etat. This circumftance, together with the fair reputation he had main- tained, 122 Administration of tained, rendered his introduction to the ca- binet pleafing to the nation; and when the king informed the aflembly of the manner in which he had filled up his council, the infor- mation was received with fhouts of applaufe. The period is arrived when the predomi- nant party in the national affembly, that which engrofled the favour of the people, has entertained fufpicions and raifed complaints againft fome of thofe very minifters whofe political principles had formerly been extol- led ; but as this difcontent chiefly broke out after I had quitted my office, I am unable to enter into a minute difcuflion of the fub- jec~t. I can only obferve in general, that we frequently conceive a change to have taken place in other men, when it is ourfelves who have eflentially changed. The ideas for ex- ample which were formed of the revolution have gradually undergone considerable alter- ations, or rather have received material additions; and the perfons whofe fentiments have not varied in a fimilar proportion, ne- ceflarily appear at fome diftance from the opinions of the day; the word conftitution alfo being the term indifcriminatcly made ufe of to exprefs both the original and the fubfe- quent Mr. Nicker. 123 quent ideas, the old and the new principles, many friends to their country find themfelves fingular and alone, merely becaufe their minds have been lefs fluctuating : nor can we be fure that the men whofe ideas at prefent are the moft daring on the fubjecT; of liberty, will not hereafter be accufed by their bolder coun- trymen of having changed their ideas and of being no longer favourable to the revolution. It is a great fource of confufion to continue the fame words when the ideas that were affix^ ed to them have undergone material alteration. Since my return to office in July 1789, my life has been a continued fcene of anxiety and agitation. The fcarcity of provifions was a coniiderable fource of pain : but I mall treat this part of my adminiitration laft ; it extends greatly beyond the period at which I am arrived in my review, and I ought to give the whole of the fubject at once. I have already fpoken in a general manner of the finances, and the cares and exertions I employed to preferve them from fhipwreck and difafter. The National AfTembly fhowed no defire to hear of the fubjecl:, from a reluc- tance to encounter at fo early a ftage with arduous 124 Administration of arduous circumftances. They conceived alfo that they ouht not to take up a bufinefs of fuch importance by halves ; their defign was to feize upon the whole of it ; but they did not think it defirable to attempt this till, fecure in the public opinion, they could employ without danger the moft effectual means. I afked not therefore their aid but at a mo- ment of indifpenfable neceflity, and I found it inadequate the firft time I made ufe of it ; for having propofed to the aflembly to autho- rife a loan of thirty millions at five per cent, they fixed the intereft at four and half, and by this inconfiderate flep the fuccefs of the meafure was defeated. I difcovered neither mortification nor difpleafure, but I conducted myfelf on this as on many other occafions, having no other alternative than to act in the beft manner I could with the given means, and to difcard all perfonal confiderations as things that were out of the queftion. It was in confequence of this acquiefcence that I took upon me to propofe a patriotic fubfcription, and made myfelf refponfible for a meafure which the fituation of affairs dic- tated and indeed forced me to adopt. The aflembly Mr. Necker. 125 aflembly had injured credit by caufing the firft loan it had authorifed to prove abortive ; at the fame time it fuffered the regular taxes to fink ; and yet it was thought juft to make the minifter anfwerable for the fuccefs of means intended to fupply thefe deficiencies. I faw that my influence in the adminiftration of the finances was drawing to a clofe ; it would therefore have been excufable if I had refigned their fate to the National AfTembly at a mo- ment, when, in the courfe of two adminiftra- tions, I found myfelf for the firft time obliged 'to fpeak to the people of facrifices. The pa- triotic fubfcription, in the way I had planned it, was as little burthenfome as the nature of the bufinefs would admit; it was ftill of all the duties of a minifter that which gave me the moft pain ; and it was from true conviction that I thus addrefled myfelf to the National AfTembly : " It is certainly a misfortune, and a mif- <c fortune of no common magnitude, to be *' obliged to recommend the expedient of a " confiderable contribution. I have recourfe " to it for the firft time, and I feel all its bit " ternefs. Having fubjected myfelf to this " mortification, I find little terror in all that " is exterior to myfelf, the opinion, the judg- " ment, 126 Administration of t ment, and the condemnation of others ; my " whole foul is engaged in the anguifh of its " own regret, and has no leifure to attend to " circumftances of inferior importance." Thefe words exprefTed precifely what I felt : my life had for fome time been a fucceffion of facrifices, and having once confidered it in this view, I forgot myfelf, and thought only of the public ; and my feelings grew the more ele- vated in proportion as I deferted the ufual tract. The period when the National Aflembly conceived that they might without inconve- nience feize upon the entire adminiftration of the finances, was after having created four hundred millions of paper money, a fum which they intended to increafe in proportion as it might be found requifite. The druggie with ' difficulties was no longer what it had been ; the neceffity of fupplying large ex- penccs with an inadequate revenue was paffed ; and the direction of affairs was all at once freed from the principal fetters that had bound it. It is a glorious time for adminiftrators when by the unreftricled ufe of paper money they can not only fupply all wants known and Mr. Nec ker. 127 and unknown, but have a fund ready to ftart up on the very day and hour it fhall be called for. They have only to procure a paper mill, a ftamp, a plate, and a printing prefs, and the public treafury is fecure, and they may them- felves recline on the couch of indolence and repofe. Be this as it may, it muft be allowed, if we leave out of the confideration the morality of two great meafures of the National AfTembly* the aflumption of the property of the church, and the payment of the public debts in paper which can no otherwife be difpofed of than in the purchafe of this property, that the union of thefe two refources is the greater!:, the moft comprehenfive and effectual operation of finance it is poffible to conceive ; and I will further admit that a refource of an extraordi- nary fort was abfolutely neceffary to extricate the finances from the embarraffments in which they were plunged by the annihilation of the exifling taxes, and the extreme flow- nefs with which others were introduced in their room, together with the dangers infepa- rable from an unlimited fyftem of innovation. It may alfo be remarked that the flownefs of fubftitution has produced a fpirit of tranquil- lity i23 Administration of lity in the provinces very favourable to the revolution. The people have confounded the abolition of the mod burthenfome taxes, and the diminution of taxes in general, with the advantages of the new conftitution. Perhaps too by the reaction of thefe ideas, when the new taxes will become payable, this conftitu- tion already applauded will render their burthen fupportable. From all which it ap- pears, that, leaving the morality out of the queftion, and this omiflion is a very eminent one, the conduct of the National Aflembly has difplayed a very Ikilful policy ; and though their fyftem was neither conceived with deliberation nor prepared with art, but has rather been the fortuitous offspring of circum- ftances, the refult probably is all that will remain to afcertain their merit or do honour to their memory. The National Aflembly would perhaps have ruined everything at firft, had it decreed to iflue nineteen hundred millions of new bills, as had been propofed. Eight hundred only were iflued ; and, if I contributed by my obfervations to that act of prudence and mode- ration, I thus rendered the flate a parting fervice. There is no doubt but that the more 5 billt Mr. Necker, 129 bills the afTembly fhould have brought into circulation, the more would the price of the national domains and flock have been raifed. But neither of thefe 'advantages would have been permanent, fince they would have been the effect either of the fears of thofe who would have tendered this new currency in payment, or of the neceflity in which they would have been to realize their money in this manner, and this only. That this truth may be apparent to the moft ignorant or the moll unthinking, let us extend the hypothefis, and imagine paper- money created, which fhould actually exceed, or be fuppofed to exceed, in value the real property on which it was founded. From that moment each bill- holder, certain or at leafl believing that a part of this paper could never be realized, would have dreaded left he fhould have ultimately remained a proprietor of thefe inefficient bills; and hence there would have been fuch a ge- neral eagernefs to realize fuch bills, that every fpecies of actual property might have rifen to twice or thrice their juft value. There are always two points of comparifon in bargains ; the thing purchafed, and the thing with which the purchafer pays ; and the lower the value K of 130 Administration of of the latter is fuppofed to be, the higher will be the value of the former. Perhaps it will be faid that the price of bill* can never be eftimated* above the courfe of exchange, at which they may immediately be converted into money. This obfervation is not true ; for fuch a courfe of exchange is applicable only to limited tranfactions, occa- fioned by the daily circulation of ex pence. There is no law againft converting fuch bills into money; but it would be impoflible to effect fuch a project:, not only becaufe the price of money would be fenfibly raifed, if heavy fums were thus collected, but becaufe alfo the col- lector would expofe himfelf to perfonal danger, by fuch a fpeculation. It would be truly a fiction therefore, to take the courfe of bill ex- change on the place as the ftandard of the fum of the injury done to the perfons who are obliged to receive thefe bills in payment, as creditors to the ftate, or from fuch individual* as are authorifed thus to pay their debts. From thefe obfervation s we mull conclude that, if we confine our views to the raifing of the price of the national property, we muft then iflfue paper money without reftraint : for the more abundant it is the greater will the C rivalfhip Mr. Necker, 131 rlvalQiip be, between thofe who will en- deavour to rid themfelves of it by the acqui- fition of real property. But fhould any fcruples be felt relative to the diminution of the value of the bills offered in payment, and mould fimilar fcruples exift againft profiting by the advanced prices, which muft be the general effect of reforting to this only means of re- alizing paper money, which the creditors of the ftate and the creditors of thefe creditors had been obliged to accept I fay that, if fuch fcruples are juft, paper money ought to be iffued with prudence. In my Memoir to the afTembly, my words were " The ftate ought " not to conftitute itfelf a flock -jobber, and " profit by the public to enrich itfelf." I be- lieve this reflection to be perfectly equitable. The refource arifing from the fale of the national property muft be prodigious ; and I fhould have thought myfelf able, in other times, with a tenth part of the like fuccour, to have freed the finances from all difficulties, and have raifed public credit to the higheft de- gree. I therefore think that the National AfTembly has no right to affume fo difdainful and tri- umphant a tone, relative to others, when K 2 fpeaking 13* Administration or fpeaking of the ftate of the finances. But this reproach ought rather to be applied to its com- mittee of finances. This committee feems to reproach the former adminiftration, that it did not, like itfelf, put an end to all anticipations ; that it did not entirely liquidate arrears ; that it did not reimburfe thofe civil officers who had purchafed their places *, &c. &c. and for not having done all this the committee was kindly pleafed to accufe it of flupor in its laft report. But with the permiflion of this good committee, it was not from the refources which the new fyftem of contribution afforded that the afTembly found fufficient funds for all their reimburfements ; fince at this moment full half of the revenues of the ftate are annihi- lated. It is not therefore by means of reducing expences properly fo called -p that it has at- tained * The more the government became corrupt, the greater was die price paid for fuch places ; it being the practice of the purchafers to repay themfelves by every mode of exaction and corruption. T. f By thefe I underftand all fuch as concern the public fervice; for the retrenchments that have taken place in confequence of certain payments being made by the de- partments Mr. Necker, 133 rained this end ; fince fuch reduction, if we include expences that have been newly added, does not amount to more than fifteen millions. Hence the real refources are the feizing on the wealth of the clergy, and the affignats which have been iflued on the product of the fale. Is it a proof of ftupor, on the part of admi- niftration, that it did not undertake an opera- tion like this ? There are certain proofs of in- duftry which every man is not willing to give. The committee of iinances, ever intent to praife the adminiftration of the AfTembly, be it at whofe expence it may, obliges me to re- peat two afTertions from its laft Memoir. The expences which are hereafter to be paid from taxes levied by each department, are there ftated j and, to relieve the picture, a compa- rifon is drawn of the burthens to which the provinces were formerly fubjected, which comparifon concludes thus " Expences le- " vied by intendants, fub- delegates, &c. ; ex- <c pences that were exempt from refponfibi- partments which were formerly paid from the product of general contributions, cannot be confidered as favings j neither can the extinction of claims, which has arifen from payments made with affignats, be fo confidered. K 3 Hty, *34 Administration of " lity, the amount of which cannot be calcu- " lated, becaufe fuch levies were arbitrary." Thus the committee wilfully forgot a law of which I have before fpoken ; a law known to all France, and enacted under my firft admini- fixation ; a law by which the faille, the only tax fufceptible of arbitrary increafe, had been fixed immutably, and could not admit of being extended, unlefs by an edict properly inregiftered ; fo that from this period, when any extraordinary expences occurred in the provinces, they were paid out of the royal treafury. It would have become the com- mittee of finances to have remembered an act fo honourable to the reign of his majefty ; and it ought not to have ftated that as a grievance which had fo long been reformed ; neither ought it to have exaggerated this pretended abufe, by affirming that the amount of it could not be calculated. The fole objects for which new taxes could be incurred were paro- chial expences, repairs of public fountains, parfonage houfes, &c. ; which were of fmall importance, and which will fubfift under the new government. But thefe were not to take place, except at the requeft of the community itfelf ; and they were not authorifed by the king Mr. Necker, 135 king till he had received fuch approbation as was derived from the enquiries of provincial adminiftrations. The road tax, which was the fubftitute of the corvfo, was fuject to the like regulation; and the epithets intendants, and fub-delegates, were in no fenfe applicable to the late date of public adminiftration, in the provinces. The fecond affertion I fhall cite is the fol- lowing from the fame report, where it fpeaks of the lifts made out for this road tax, and for the expence of collecting, &c. " Thefe lifts were odious, becaufe they were " often made in a moft unjuft and arbitrary " manner ; and the public was forbidden to " infpecT: them. At prefent all is open, en- " quiry is entirely free, the people are the fu- " preme judge, and refponfibility is their pro- w teclion. The national ceconomy will hence- " forth be founded on the means by which " defpotifm formerly efFe&ed its ruin." This language is improper, becaufe at leaft of the errors with which it abounds ; for the road tax had no relation to taxes in general ; it was the particular bufinefs of each community, which formed lifts for itfelf, and regulated the bufinefs under the infpection of the provincial K 4 admini- X36 Administration of adminiflrations ; therefore thefe kind of ope- rations were entirely open to the public. The committee always refers to a more dis- tant period than the laft adminiftration, from which to draw its comparifons. It ought rather to anfwer the end for which it was eftablifhed, and not to leave unnoticed the law refpe&ing the faille, and the eftablifhment of provincial aflemblies ; two great public be- nefits which had been confirmed by the king. It need not to have gone as far back as Pha- ramond, and the parallel between the paft and the future would have ftill been more glaring and fplendid. The two errors with which I have here re- proached the committee of finances, might eafily have efcaped its attention ; but there is fome general reproof due tothofe extravagant pictures, which the reporters of the National Aflembly, and its various orators, are in the habit of prefenting, when they fpeak of for- mer abufes. Who will deny that they were abundant ? The diforder was indeed great. Numerous laws ftood in need of correction ; many necefifary and uleful regulations were wanting ; the idea of improvement every where prefented itfelf j and it was the know- ledge Mr. Necker. 137 ledge and the conviction of thefe truths which, whilethey prefentedanoble career and immenfe labours to the views of the king, determined him to feek afiiftance from the reprefentatives of the nation. But, while I thus exprefs myfelf, I do not think the affirmations of the AfTembly, concerning the former fituation of the kingdom, lefs unreafonable, or lcfs exceffive. If we liften to their orators, we fhould believe they were called to civilize a favage country, to cultivate an unfruitful land, and to raife from obfcurity a kingdom without exiftence, and a nation without re- nown. Yet, if I take a retrofpect of this kingdom, which fcarcely could be known by the defcription given of it, I perceive a fuc- ceflion of profperity at which even imagina- tion is aftonifhed. I behold population an- nually increafing in a remarkable manner, fo as lately to have amounted to more than twenty-fix millions of fouls. The foil I fee covered almoft every where with the riches of nature. I view ten thoufand leagues of high road, croffing our territories in every direction, and connecting their various parts; a canal uniting the German Ocean to the Mediterranean ; and various other canals ad- vancing, 138 Administration op vancing, fo as to form a communication be- tween all our great rivers. I fee France in pofleflion of nearly half the money which is in circulation throughout Europe. I perceive her prefent at the divifion of the treafures which annually arrive from the two Indies ; demanding a part equal to that of all other nations ; and demanding it in exchange for the various products of her wealthy fields* in exchange for the precious fruits which me derives from the culture of her colonies, and as the reward of her induflrious commerce, and the daily labour of her numerous ma- nufacturers. I behold France fuperior to every other country, and rivalled only by England in fciences, arts and literature ; but every where feizing to herfelf the authority which appertains to powers of mind and the gifts of genius. I perceive her attracting multitudes of foreigners, and inhabitants from every other country; who eagerly come to enjoy her fortunate climate, the fecurity which the permanence of public order affords, and thofe bleflings which the characteriftic amenity of an amiable and feeling nation fheds over focial life. In fine, the fortune and the fame of France, her profperity and her triumphs, have long Mr. Necker, 139 long excited at fome moments the jealoufy and at all times the attention of Europe. Such was the flourifhing country, fuch the celebrated kingdom, the new deftiny of which is confided to the National AfTembly. Here- after we fhall have to account for that degree of happinefs which will be due to its cares ; and for that increafe of refpecl: which we fhall enjoy among other nations, in confequence of its laws. We ought to hope the beft, but I could have wifhed the AfTembly to have acknow- ledged the riches and true ftate of the kingdom confided to it. Inftead of incefTantly occupy-* ing itfelf to depreciate its worth, I mould have been glad had the afTembly faid " France has " gradually raifed herfelf to the higher! degree 4< of profperity -, but fhe wanted a more equal " and enlightened adminiftration, a rampart " impregnable to abufe of every kind, laws " favourable to the people and which fhould <c grant as much liberty as is confiftent with *< public order. We are called by our excellent " king to be the guardians of all this good ; '* let us blefs him, and unite our labours, our cares and our vigilance, that we may in- creafe the happinefs and glory of our coun- " try.* c< 140 Administration of " try." Thefe fimple fentiments would I believe have been greatly meritorious, and would have rendered the National Affembly more famous than thofe exaggerations on which it relies for immortal fame. We ought not to authorife men to take any thing from us ; for their aukward hands do not always faften on fuch things only as we do not want. But the Affembly is hurried away by its de- fire to exhibit itfelf, and to produce ftriking effe&s, which is its ruling paflion. When fuch defires however are predominant in a political affembly, they muft have great influ- ence over molt of its proceedings. Fearful of being outrun, it is in too much hafte. Ea- ger not to be thought an imitator, it rejects the be ft examples. Defirous of avoiding the ac- cufation of inexperience, it makes theory the queen of the earth. Dreading the rivalihip of the part, every thing is overturned and destroyed : alike fearful of being excelled by the future, innovations are multiplied to infinitude. All is violence, and it takes upon itfelf the taik of time : thus it lofes the affift- ance of this great benefactor of mankind, both in the phyficaland moral world. The laft report of the committee of finances, from Mr. Ne c k er. 141 from reflection to reflection, feems to have led me far. I mud retreat a few paces, to fay another word on this report, which may- be of ufe. The committee profited only in part, by the recommendation which I fo often gave, to feparate the revenues and fixed expences from extraordinary expences and revenues; for they have dated two tempo- rary objects among thofe refources which are to ferve as a fund for fixed expences: that is Thirty-five millions ( 1,458,3 ^ 1.) in ex- pectation, arifing from the patriotic contri- butions. Twenty millions (833,3331.) idem, on the fale of fnufF and fait at preient on hand. Thefe two temporary refources ought ra- ther to have been placed as a counterpoife to the extraordinaries of 1791 : but it would then have been feen that a fixed revenue is necefTary of an additional fifty-five millions (2,291,6661.) as a balance to the fixed ex- pences, and it could not be faid there will no longer be any deficit. There would have been none on the firft of May 1788, had this method been followed ; for fifty-fix mil- lions (2,333,3331.) raifedby loan, and other refources, 141 Administration of refources, might have been included as a part of the revenue. As an excufe for the con- duct of the committee, the example of En- gland may be pleaded, where the total balance of the year is given, without accurately dif- tinguifhing between ordinary and extraordi- nary. But why fhould we imitate precifely thofe parts of the adminiftration of our neigh- bours which are vitiated? The reafon that the parliament of England has feveral times ap- plied the finking fund, or the product of a loan, to balance the fixed expences, is becaufe it has often confounded the ordinary and extraordi- nary ; by which means the nation has not been always able, with facility, to compare the actual relation which exifls between the revenue and the fixed expences. I offered France an additional means by which it might conftantly obferve the order the importance of which I am here noticing* This was the inftitution of the Caijfe dc i* Extraordinaire. Neither do I know that it was proper to rank the new charitable donations among tem- porary expences ; for the feizing on the do- mains of the clergy, the deftruction of manor lordihips, and even the abolition of the u* randes. Mr, Necker,. 143 randes*, will each and all of them deprive the poor of very confiderable refources ; there- fore the public treafury muft conftantly fupply an equivalent fum. It is likewife to adorn the prefent at the expence of the paft that the committee, in ftating fifty-nine millions eight hundred thou- fand livres (2,491,6661.) as the expenditure, the funds for which muft be furnifhed by- taxes peculiar to each department, adds that local expences formerly amounted at leaft to a fum as confiderable. But this aflertion is abfolutely erroneous. The expences, which were provided for by additional contributions of the taille 9 amounted to about twenty-five millions, eftimating the expence of the roads, like the committee, at twenty millions. The furplus therefore of the fifty-nine 'millions eight hundred thoufand livres will be an aug- mentation: and in reality this furplus in the ftatement of the committee is relative to the new falaries of the judges, to the expences of adminiftration in the provinces t (which expences * Officers ele&ed by trades formed into bodies corpo- rate; to prefide at their aflemblies, and ac~t for the ommunity. T. f I know not whether it were prudent to provide for the 144 Administration of expences were formerly much lefs confider* able and were paid by the royal treafury), and in fine to other objects paid after the fame manner; fuch as the expences of magiftrates, the maintenance of prifoners, the erecting of public buildings, the falaries of the receivers of the taxes, the grants to hofpitals, the aid given to paupers, deferted children, &c. No doubt the arbitrary and not to be calculated ex- fences, levied and impofed by intendants and fub-delegates, might here happily be brought in, to fupply fo great a difcordance of cal- culation. But I have already fhewn that this infinuation did not apply to the laft admi- niftration. I think the National AfTembly is guilty of an error, in demanding from its committees a flatement of the finances. This office mould be committed to the perfon at the head of the public treafury; fimply referving to commiffioners, appointed by the AfTembly, the falaries of the judges, and of provincial adminiftra- tors, by individual taxation \ for the people ought not to be continually reminded of the expence which is ne- cefTary to moral order ; they are but too much difpofed to think them unnecefTary. What would be the effe& were, the fame means to be employed to defray the ex- pence* of religion ? the Mr. Nec ker. 14$ the revifion and controul of fuch accounts. This revifion ought to be made feverely; and confidence might be placed in the de- fire which men have to detect the faults of others. But, when a body of deputies pre- pare and prefent ftatements and accounts, there is no longer any certain controul; be- caufe a minifter held in reftraint and fub- miflion as he mutt hereafter be, will fcarcely be inclined to difpute with a committee more powerful than himfelf in the face of the af- fembly. The right of controul mould always be referved to the raoft potent and indepen- dent ; for a man will not every day be found who, held like me by every kind of tie, by an account of his adminiftration to which no explicit anfwer is given, and by his fortune left in the hands of the afTembly, would ra- ther cede to the emotions of candour than fuffer himfelf to be guided by fentiments of perfonal policy. The afTembly, overwhelmed with bufinefs, and therefore obliged to pay no more than a rapid degree of attention to finance, is under the necefhty of eftablifhing a mode which will fecure confidence. It ought irrevocably to fix the form of giving in accounts, and L never 146 Administration of never to admit of deviation : for a change of method will be fufficient to render the necef- fary connexion of the paft with the prefent, and of the prefent with the future, unintel- ligible to moft men. Thus the aflembly praifes or remains filent, according to the refult of the accounts delivered in. All hands and feet applaud when it hears of its own. miracles; and perhaps it is in mercy that it does not punifh thofe whofe ftatements are lefs agreeable. The ftate of the finances would be in the completed and mod (table order, if the fixed expences and the fixed revenue were ba- lanced ; for we need then only examine the immenfe amelioration of which the gradual extinction of a hundred and feventy-five minions of annuities gives us an aflfurance ; we need then only expect, the good which would refult from the lowering the intereft of money. It will be faid, we certainly ought to re- member the real difcharge of a fpecific fum in annuities, which will neceflarily be paid off, in proportion as new aflignats mall be ifTued to the creditors of the ftate. This has not efcaped me ; but, if I do not deceive my- fclf, Mr, Nec ke.r. 147 felf, the prefent ftate of the finances^ fuch as it ftands in the laft report of the committee, cannot be improved by ifibing new aflignats* till fuch tine as the prefumed product of the fale of the domains will admit of calling in thefe aflignats, to the amount of two thou (and feven or eight hundred millions (1 12,500,0001.). The following is my calculation (March 15th) : 1. The public treafury has already beea fupplied with fix hundred and fifty-fix mil- lions, expended or nearly foin fuch ufes as are ftated in the account. 2. I prcfume that three hundred millions more mud be ififued in the courfe of this year, for the necefiary fupplies and the pay- ment of the land tax, the collecting of which is divided into two years, as well as for the general delay in collecting the revenue of feventy-fix millions of temporary expences^ which the Caije de I Extraordinaire is to dif^ charge, and other payments which it rnuit make *, as wfcll as for contingencies* 3- Six * The recovery of arrears confided to the CaiJJe de F Extraordinaire has not been forgotten in this eftimate. L 2 But 148 Administration op 3. Six hundred millions of reimburfementa have been decreed ; and the thirty millions of intereft which will be cut off by thefe re- imburfements have been fubtracted, in ad- vance, from the fixed expences. 4. I muft further obferve that, among the refources which the committee have placed as equivalent to fixed expences, we find fixty millions to be deducted from the revenues of the national domains. Thus, when twelve hundred millions of aflignats,. in addition to the three preceding articles, fhall be iflued, and when a capital equivalent to the debts of the ftate bearing five per cent, intereft fhall be repaid, annuities equal only to the fixty millions, already carried to account in the fixed revenues of the ftate, will be paid off. Now as no part of thefe fixty millions of re- Venues will remain to the ftate, if the total product of the fale of the national domains fhould amount to no more than the four ar- ticles above ftated, But neither muft it be forgotten that the patriotic con- tribution for 17$M, and the fale of falts and fnuffs, during this year, have already been taken as refources into the account of the committee. The Mr. Necker. 149 Millions of Livrei. Pounds Sterling. 2 7>333>333- 12,500,000 25,000,000 50,000,000 The firft of 656 " The fecond of 300 The third of 600 The fourth of 1 200 equal to Total 2756 Total 114,833,3331. I was juftified in faying that the prefent ftate of the finances cannot be improved by ifiuing new aflignats ; except as far as the prefumed product of the fales will allow us to ilTue bills beyond the two thoufand feven or eight hundred millions. I do not think this difcuffion either ufelefs or uninterefting : it will infpire no fears in the creditors of the ftate, who ought to con- fide in the relation that exifts between the re- venue and the fixed expence ; but it will warn the national reprefentatives that, in defpite of the vaft refources decreed at their omnipotent tribunal, the moment of neceffary prudence is arrived. It will perhaps be expected that, while I dwell on fubjects of finance, I fhould fpeak my opinion on the new taxes. But they are decreed, and ought only to be viewed on the favourable fide. 1 therefore only perceive that the new fyftem of taxation will put an L 3 end *5 Administration of end to the exa&ions infeparable from the ab- furd mode of c*olledt.ing the droits d'aides, and to the former unjuft inequality in the price of fait, and the dearnefs of this necefTary ar- ticle, which was the fatal refult of this in- equality ; that circulation will be absolutely free; and in fine I perceive the happy abo- lition of all the privileges of man over man, and of province over province, and the good which muft refult from a more extenfive eqn-ility in the divifon of the land tax. There is another reflection which feems to me not to have been made, and which muft ferve as an excufe to the National Aftem- bly, relative to their innovations in taxation, Ihould their f) (torn fail of fuccefs. It is this. No nation ever efiablimed all the -taxes and claims to which they find themfelves fubje& at once. The neceflary contributions and wants of each political fociety have been kvied by degrees, and by degrees alfo that were unequal, becaufe expc ces have principally ac- crued at the conclufion of wars, and other extra- ordinary calamities. No general and conliftent view in .11 its parts could therefore fyftemati- cally direct individual taxes. Through the various kingdoms of Europe, the defeds of thefe edifices have been every where remarked ; raifed Mr, Necker. 151 raifed as they have been in fucceflion, and agreeably to the exigencies of the mafter of the building. But great changes were become impoflible, becaufe no ri(k muft be run be- tween the daily receipt and expenditure, which is rendered difficult by the number of taxes and public offices even in times of tran- quillity. It were therefore to be wifhed, for the general good, that a nation might find an Opportunity of attempting fo great a change ; and this opportunity happened to a kingdom which, from a circumflance unex- ampled in hiftory, had the power, if necefTary, to forbear during a whole year to collect' its revenues. This is precifely the fituation of the National AfTembly ; in confequence of the fale of the domains of the clergy, by an- ticipating the product of thofe domains, and by the aid of affi gnats brought into cir- culation. I ought however to obferve that public order and general fatisfaction are effentially neceffary to the fafe collecting the contributions which have been fixed. For a tax is much more felt when not concealed, like that of fait and of fnuff, in the very price of the article: and it is like wife more burthenfome when it is L 4 not 152 Administration op not collected, as the latter is, in fmall portions and by voluntary confumption; for all taxes which imply feizure, in default of payment, require a greater afcendancy in the ruling power. Such feizures often repeated are at- tended with many inconveniences ; and even become impracticable, fhould there be any tacit agreement, or fhould men be incited by the contagioufnefs of imitation, not to pay them. The fame cannot be faid of taxes on articles of confumption ; fince the daily ufe of them calls and guarantees the pay- ment. I do not perceive that any experiment has yet been made on the grand difficulty of land tax. Will the fum be fixed that {hall be impofed upon each department ? If fo, on what bafis will this diftribution be founded ? Population cannot ferve as a rule ; be- caufe the number of inhabitants in each de- partment is not in any uniform proportion to the neat produce of the lands. This num- ber every where eflentially depends on the extent of trade, on the number of manufac- tures, and on the manner in which the land is cultivated. The circumference of a department would be Mr. Necker. 153 be a ftill more uncertain mode of comparifoa for impofing the land tax. Will the vingtihnes as formerly levied ferve as a guide for each department ? The inequality which fubfifts in this refpect is perfectly well known. The revenues of landholders in fome provinces have been exactly verified, in others this has not been done, and feveral are taxed very much to their own advantage. Will the vingtihnes and the taille collectively be taken as the bafis of calculation ? In that cafe very confiderable variations would in like manner be found in the levying of this tax. Finally, will the total of taxation, of every -fpecies, to which the departments were for- merly fubject, be aflumed as a rule ? If fo, old privileges would thus be preferved. All thefe difficulties will be felt,- and there will no doubt be a wifh to avoid thofe endlefs difcuffions which will be occafioned, by fuch divifion, between each department concerning the fum to be levied. In all probability there- fore, it will be found expedient to fix the pro- portion which each proprietor throughout the kingdom muft pay according to his net re- venue. But why, in this cafe, muft the fum total of the tax become an article of law I ' The 154 Administration of The inconveniences attached to the divi* fion, on which a numerical tax muft be founded, appear mod important if this divifion muft be fixed by an aflembly the authority of which depends on concord. Yet a difficulty of another kind cannot be avoided, in deter- mining fimply the proportion which each pro- prietor fhould pay agreeable to his revenue ; for fuch a regulation would fupprefs the in- tereft which the perfons taxed collectively would otherwife take to infpect the whole. That intereft exifts when the fum levied is determinate ; becaufe the favours granted to one are diftinctly feen to be difadvantageous to the reft. But in a tax proportionate to the revenue all is feparate, among the contri- butors ; and no one lofes or gains by the man- ner in which his neighbour acquits himfelf of the debt : or at leaft the intereft which each ought to take can only be perceived from ge- neral relations. Administration muft there- fore watch over the rectitude of individuals ; but fuch multiplied attention muft foon ine- vitably become feeble. An experiment of thefe difficulties was made in collecting the "j'nigtiemes. Yet they were endeavoured to be obviated in the pays deleftion, Mr. Necker, 155 elefthr* 1 by naming directors, who were ordered to divide the tax according to uniform, inftructions. The imperfection of thefe Ope- rations related, at that time, to a tax the pro- duce of which was only eftimated at fifty-live millions ^2,295,833!.) ; in the annual revenue therefore the effecT: of inevitable abufe was limited. The difficulty will become more ferious when annexed to a tax of three hun- dred millions (12,500,0001.) including the fols per livref. The new adminiftrators of provinces will be better informed than their" predeceflors were, and more animated by the fpirit of pa- triotifm. This no doubt will be faid, nor do I conteu: its truth. But they will have to tax the perfons by whom they are elected ; and will not this be a great inducement to partiality ? Should they favour any individual, how can they befeverely juft towards all the reft? Nor will it be fufficient that a perfect fpirit of equity fhould exift in one diftrict ; it mull * Diftricls which previous to the revolution had the pri- vilege of electing certain officers. T. \ In France it has been the cuftom to raife new taxes by adding ope, two, or rnore <bls per livre to the old, T. be J56 Administration of be every where predominant, otherwife the perfons taxed in one divifion, informed of the lenity with which the perfons of the next are treated, will wifh to obtain the fame favour ; and the adminiftrators themfelves will require fuch uniform juftice to authorife the feverity of their fuperintendance. Thofe who prefume that all difficulties ap- pertaining to the divifion of territorial taxa- tion will be furmounted, when a general re- gifter of the whole kingdom fhall exift, are deceived ; for* to render fuch a regifter ufeful, it would be neceflary that the total of the tax fhould be divided among the departments in numerical funis ; and we have fhewn that fuch a divifion would furnifh an inexhauftible fource of difpute. Befide, a regifter might ferve as the guide of agreement among fuch as fhould know its accuracy, who mould be enabled to judge of the principles on which it was formed, and who fhould perceive the ap- plication of the fame principles to their re- fpe&ive property. But how might a kingdom like that of France be fubje& to fuch uniform regifter laws, with the confent of the whole nation ? Hence Mr. Necker. 157 Hence there are inherent inconveniences in the levying of the land tax, which fhould be an inducement to prudence, in determining the mode of this new kind of taxation. The conjectures formed on the net produce of the lands of France are founded on vague no- tions, which are liable to an infinite number of remarks. Twenty wealthy proprietors of the National Aflembly, who fhould have been de- firous of making known the actual proportion between their revenue and the vingtiemes to which they ftill are fubject, in the different pro- vinces where their eftates might be fituated, would have afforded more ufeful information than all the abftract enquiries which were en- tered into by the committee of taxes. It would at leaft have been proper to have requefted information from the directors of diftricts, or departments, on the relation which is formed between the vingtiemes, in their cantons, and the -net revenues of eftates; and their informatioh compared with ideas which might have been communicated by the directors of the land tax, would have led them into the road of truth, of which they were in fearch. Let us here fuppofe that, according to re- ceived 158 Administration of ceived information, it mould be eftimated that the two vingtiemes, and the four fols per Iivre in addition to the firft, the fum total of which would be a ninth, ought to have realized dou- ble the fum, had the people regularly paid ; that is a hundred and ten millions (4,583,3331.) inftcad of fifty-five (2,291,666!.) This would have afforded a firft principle, by the aid of which the product of any other part might have been found. Thus for example it will appear that a fixth, the equivalent of a ninth and one half, mould produce a hundred and fixty-five millions (2>7 o8 >333U- But to this fum mould be added 1. Ten or twelve millions (416,6661. or 500,0001.) for the fixth of the revenues of the domains of the clergy, which formerly were not fubject to the vingtlfaies. 2. From thirty- five to forty millions (1,458,3331. to 1,666,6661.) for the fixth of the increafe of the revenue of landholders, for the exemption from the faille and the tenth. I do not endeavour, as is evident, to give exact eftimates, but to hint at fuch as each perfon may make, in order to calculate the product of the new land tax. 3 In Mr. Necker. 155 In matters of bufinefs it is always greatly advantageous to reduce complicated queftions into a fmall compafs. The moral confederations that enter into the eftimate mull ever be the mod difficult, and can only be made from experience. It is not fufficient to calculate the net produce of lands ; the endeavours that will be made to conceal this product muft alfo be brought into the account ; the degree of watchfulnefs and au- thority of the various adminiftrators muft be inveftigated ; and the relation between the power of the people, the price of neceffaries, the laws of exportation, and interior circula- tion muft all enter into the ftatement. In fine, in a contrary fenfe, the happy effects of agriculture, the fuppreffion of the gabel and the droits d'aides, and the exemption from an infinite number of the former fhackles of commerce, muft make a part of the confidera- tion. No perfon has yet publifhed the elements of the eftimates of the new taxes adopted by the National AfTembly ; no well-founded opinion therefore can be deduced from their proceed- ings. An eftimate of fluctuating taxes is no fim- ple 160 Administration of pie procefs ; for it muft confift of theory and fad. After much labour, au eftimate has been formed of the actual value of rents : but to this mould have been added conjectures on the reduction of thefe rents, when they be- come a rule for the levying of any confider- able tax. The eftimate of the right of enre- giftering letters and bills of exchange is like- wife a very complicated fpeculation ; real knowledge and great judgment are neceflary to give the leaft degree of certainty to fuch a calculation. I have been a witnefs to the mod erroneous deductions of this kind, and I difco- ver much dignity on the part of the affembly, and much familiarity on that of its commit- tees, in the fuccinct explanations with which they have reciprocally been fatisfied on fuch important fubjecls. The fame inattention was fhewn when, without hefitation, the former tenth was fup- pofed to be juftly eftimated at a hundred and thirty millions (5,416,6661). I had not left Paris when this eftimate was fo readily ad- opted. It does not appear to me to be found- ed on any good grounds, and I think it exag- gerated. In the eftimate of new taxes, care will furely be Mr. Necker. 161 foe taken not to negledt the influence and the nature of thofe refources to which cities mufl have recourfe, as fubftitutes to their droits dentree*. There is always more or lefs of relation between every tax ; and it feldom hap- pens that the fecond does not injure the firft, the third the fecond, and fo of the reft. Experience is the befl mafter; yet my hopes will be excited and become great, the mo- ment I perceive public tranquillity efta- blifhed, focial order reftored, and a fpirit of unity once more make its appearance ; for there is no impediment, not even any fault, over which the formidable confederacy of the knowledge and will of a great nation is not capable of triumphing* I will dwell no longer on the finances : it was my duty to fupport them till the National AfTembly took them under its protection. It became me to be the faithful mepherd, during the abfence of the mafter. I have acquitted myfelf of this obligation ; but all that I have done relates to the paft, which I cannot recal. Let us examine how I acted in that molt * Duties paid at the gates of cities and barrier towns. T. M difmal i62 Administration of difmal of all nights, when the few torches which enlightened it were carefully extinguifh- ed, from the mod defpicable of all parfimo- nious motives, that of ingratitude. One of the parties into which France is at prefent divided will perhaps be furprifed that I fhould rank my conduct, at the epocha of the graved of all difcuflions, that of the veto, among the number of fervices rendered to the ftate. Paflion muft fit in judgment upon all things ; and prudence muft not fhew its face. Let the motives that guided my conduct once more be explained. The abfolute veto granted to the king, was fuppofed or reprefented to be an impediment to every falutary reform of which the nation was defirous ; or at leaft a political ftep to- wards making the eftablifhment of public li- berty, and the happinefs of France, dependent on the will of the miniftry. Thus confidered, it may well be imagined how important the queftion muft appear ; and the agitation in Paris, and throughout a great part of the king- dom, was extreme. It was therefore infinitely probable that, had the aflcmbly been reduced to the ncceility of deliberating whether the abfolute veto of the king mould be rejected or received, Mr. Necke^ i 63 received, guided by its own feelings or hurried away by public clamour, it would have de- cided that the royal fanction was not necef- fary to give validity to laws decreed by the reprefentatives of the nation. But let us fup- pofe a fmall majority on the contrary fide ; fuch a feeble fuperiority of votes would not have given permanency to a decree of this nature ; and the general difpofition would have been felt, in the moft violent manner, on the firft opportunity. Thefe general circumftances, as generally known, and the particular information which I collected, made me fenfible of the neceflity there was of a point of conciliation proper to calm this dangerous effervefcence, without depriving the king of the means of affording fuch refiftance to the decrees of the National AfTembly, as the good of the ftate might re- quire. It is evident that this Iaft purpofe was en- tirely effected, by referving to his majefty the power of refufing his fanction to the decrees of the National AfTembly, notwithftanding the demands of a firft legiflature, and the perfe- verance of a fecond, though he were obliged to yield to the fenfe of the nation, in cafe a thrid M ^ legif- 164 Administration of legiflature adhered to the fentiment of the twc* preceding. Such conftancy and perfeverance of fentiment on the part of the deputies of the nation, can leave no doubt relative to public opinion. And how can it then be imagined that a prudent prince would oppofe invincible refiftance to a union of fentiments fo general and fo long fupported ? If from Angularity of character fuch mould be his defire, it were to be wifhed, for the good of the ftate, that the conftitution mould not acknowledge his right. However, as I carefully fhewed in my re- port to the king on that fubject, which report was communicated to the National A (Terribly and printed, there was this grand difference between an abfolute veto and that of which I furnimed the idea ; that the latter was of real fervice, whereas the former would have been reduced to a fimple honorary prerogative. It never could be fuppofed that the king could perpetually impede a law enacted for the pub- lic good, and pertinacioufly infifted upon by the reprefcntatives of the nation : and the dread of awakening irritation, by once refufing the royal fanction, and of exciting univerfal difcontent, would conftantly have deterred mi- ni Iters Mr. Nec ker, 165 nifters from formally exerting the prerogative on any occafion. Great mull have been their courage thus to expofe their own fafety ; and fuch courage would moft frequently have been deficient in prudence. The fame cannot be faid of the fufpending veto, as propofed by me. This kind of oppo- fition, contained within juft limits, would calm firft fufpicions, prevent the imagination from running aflray, and give the monarch all necef- fary time to obtain the fiipport of the public. This is all which the chief of a kingdom can want, under fuch circumftances. He may be compared to a general in a camp ; too feeble to fuftain an obftinate attack, but ftrong enough to take time to examine whether auxiliaries can or cannot be brought to his aid. The king in the Englifh conftitution has a right to refufe his confent to bills pafTed by both houfes of parliament, as long as he fhall pleafe. But it is generally acknowledged that, were he to exert his right on any important oc- cafion, he would be obliged to difiblve the par^ liament. And,fhouldanewparliamentadoptthe principles of the preceding one, the king would be under the abfolute neceflity of complying ; not constitutionally, but in order to prevent the M 3 refufal 166 Administration of refufal of fubfidies, or fome other more ferious difturbance. This right of rejecting bills is therefore in reality reduced to a kind of royal pomp. His oppofition can only be fufpeniive and temporary ; and, for the very reafon that its duration is not limited by the constitution, the monarch is neceflarily more circumfpect in the ufe of his prerogative. England cites but one example of its having been exerted. No inconvenience can refult from its being a moral impoflibility that the king mould re- ject bills prefented by parliament ; becaufe, parliament being compofed of two houfes, the deliberations of which are diftint and fepa- rate, the rifk of an inconfiderate veto, on his parr, is a danger which does not exift*. And one of thefe houfes, that of the lords, watches in a particular manner over the indifcreet at- * It is by an innovation introduced into our language that I apply the word veto to the refufal of the royal aflent to a bill of parliament. M. de Calonne in his laft work, without reflecting on the new acceptation which cuftom gives to certain terms, attributes our faults to the confuGon which we have made of the legiflative rights of the Englifh monarch with the veto of the tribunes of Rome, or the gentlemen of Poland. This information is charitable ; but how can it be prefumed that a whole nation mould be in wa t of fuch aid ? tempts Mr. Necker. 167 tempts which are made on the royal preroga- tive. But in the French conftitution, where there is only one houfe of parliament, it would be very unfortunate for the ftate, if the royal bppofition to all the decrees of the National Aflembly, thus conftituted, were rendered wholly ineffectual. The only mode of pre- venting fuch an inconvenience, was that of fixing the duration of his oppofition ; that, be- ing confidered by the nation as temporary, government might exert it without exciting any dangerous commotion. I was certain, long before this conteft con- cerning the veto, that the eftablifhment of two houfes, efpecially two houfes compofed of ele- ments fo difcordant, would never take place. And it was this forefight which induced me to be the more active in preferving to the king a right of oppofition, circumfcribed by reafon- able limits ; and which might not be merely honorary, without the power of application. . Thefe calculations of prudence have been the fport of accident ; but the expedients em- ployed to render them fo are a new proof in their favour. I will fpeak the truth ; filence would be cowardice. Thofe who exercife a power, fometimes fecretly fometimes openly, M 4 over 168 Administration of over the National Affembly, took umbrage at the effect produced on the public by the rea- fonable and guarded obfervations which the council of the king indulged themfelves in, re- lative to Tome of the refolutions of the Affem- bly. They forefaw that, by the aid of thefe obfervations, government might without dan- ger have recourie to that right of oppofitiou which the conftitution had fo lately granted the king ; and as this did not accord with their abfolute will, they felt how neceflary it was to clothe the ufe of the fufpenfive veto in terror, in order to render it ineffectual. They regretted that fuch a right had been admitted ; and, were we defirous of fearching into cer- tain myfteries, this reflection would eafily be brought to coincide with the project formed to oblige the king to fix h'i6 abode at Paris. It was immediately after his arrival at the Thuilleries that he was required to fanction, without referve, all the refolutions of the tem- peftuous night of the 4th of Auguft ; that they fixed the term of eight days to grant or refufe his fanction to all their decrees without distinction ; that they prefcribed their laconic formulary ; and that they indirectly gave the jniniflcrs to underftand how ufelcfs every kind of Mr. N e c k e r. 169 of previous objection would be. By thus depriving the king of every means of aid from the public opinion, and by giving at the fame time free courfe to popular effer- vescence, all oppofition on his part would have been rendered dangerous : and then, far from regretting the imaginary right of an indefinite veto, far from reflecting on the too fhort duration of the right of oppofi- tion which was to extend to the calling of a third affembly, ambition would frequently have limited itfelf to a fufpenfion of a fort- night, or of a month, a delay fufficient to fuffer nrft emotions to cool, when certain decrees mould have bsen prefented for the royal fanction. The National Affembly never certainly in- tended to act contrary to the prevailing opi- nion, fince in that opinion confifted all its power. The king can at prefent lefs effectually ftrug- gle with popular emotion. But public opi- nion prefents a different afpect according to the time given it for consideration, and according to the lights by which it is guided. Thus a fufpenfive veto, as far as the third affembly, fatisfies every precaution which reafon can ad- vife, or the good of the ftate require. I there- 170 Administration op I therefore again repeat, that with two houfes of parliament, as in England, the in- definite veto would perhaps be the beft ; for when the powers are intended to be dormant, that which has the moft dazzling appearance is to be preferved. But, where there is but one houfe of parliament, the fufpenfive veto, as propofed by me and adopted by the afTembly, is, in the opinion of many iruen of fenfe, one of the happieft thoughts in the whole con- flitution. Were we to give imagination the reins, we certainly might fuppofe cafes, or invent an hypothefis, in which, in defpite of the obftinacy of three fucceflive aflemblies, and the guarantee of the national wifli, the law which the monarch might be required to fan&ion might be contradictory to his opi- nion. But fuch fuppofitions are abfolutely chimerical. Befide, it is fufficient that poli- tical laws include within themfelves all which is probable, all which is morally poflible. Peculiar occafions demand peculiar modes of action. We ought by no means to forget that the queftion concerning the veto is not applicable to the conilitutional laws, and to thofe which eftablifh Mr. Necker. 171 eftablim fixed relations between the different powers. The latter, determined and im- mutable in all countries, depend on the fup- port afforded by general intereft, and the force accompanying that intereft : and as that force exifts at prefent by general confent in the reprefentatives of the nation, they have made it a principle that they alone can enact thefe fort of laws ; and that they ought to demand no more than a fimple acceptation of the form from the king. It cannot there- fore be faid that, from the necefhty which the king on fummoning a third aflembly will be under to fanction a decree in contradiction to his opinion, there will be any legal mode, flow indeed but efficacious, to diminim the power of the monarch: for the degrees of this power muft be determined by constitu- tional laws ; and to infringe thefc, be it to the prejudice or advantage of the royal au- thority, a power fimilar to that which over- turns or fhakes all political edifices will be neceffary ; and not decrees of the nature of thofe which muft be rendered valid by the fanction of the prince. It was not in an urgent manner that I pro- pofed that the king mould authorife me to com- 172 Administration or communicate to the National Aflembly my report to the council on the queftion of the veto. Such a well-confidered meafure was not of the number of thofe which are to be carried by importunity. The king therefore coolly examined the various remarks which I fubmitted to his judgment ; and, after having taken fome days to reflect on them, he approved of my proceedings and plans. The mind of the king is exceedingly ac- curate ; and whenever his eafinefs of temper is not ftrongly acted upon, whenever the modeft diffidence he has of himfelf is not abufed, I (hould always think it a token favourable to any opinion to which he fhould aflent. I continue to recapitulate thofe great oc- cafions in which I have rendered fome fervice to the ftate; for, being obliged to confine myfelf to certain limits, it is proper I mould omit all lefs confpicuous facts. The 5th of Oc- tober will long be remembered; when, by a fingular fatality, without previous advice, or previous commotion, information fudden- ly arrived that the regular troops, the nation- al guard, and in fine an immenfe multitude, were .Mr. Neck eh. 173 were preparing to come from Paris to Ver- failles. The king was gone to hunt ; and on his return the minifters informed him of all they had heard. The refolution which it was neceflary his majefty mould take, was the greateft queftion that had ever been agi- tated in any council. The fafety of the monarch and the peace of France were clofely connected with it, and perhaps the continu- ance of the monarchy. The king was to determine whether he would leave Verfailles. There were certainly very plaufible reafons. for the affirmative, and fuch as muft, under circumftances fo alarming, make a great im- preflion on the mind of the king, and on feveral of his minifters. Nor am I furprifed that, fince the king has refided at Paris, forgetting the misfortunes which his refolution prevented, and picturing to themfelves a vague idea of the liberty he would have enjoyed elfewhere, fome mould have regretted this refolution. Since there- fore many people, no matter from what mo- tives, have reproached me for my opinion, and the advice I gave on this grand occafion, it is my duty here to ftate my motives. I immediately perceived that probably the king, 174 Administration of king, accompained by the royal family, could not have left Verfailles without encountering great obftacles. I have no doubt but they would have been furmounted by his guards. But could they have been fo without effu- fion of blood, and without exciting tumults ? Would not this firft misfortune have been as a fignal for many fucceeding difafters ? The king was deftitute of money; and, as the royal treafury was at Paris, on the firft news of his flight, all fupplies for the court would have been refufed. His majefty's determination might likewife have been immediately mifmterpreted. It might have been attributed to a defign long premeditated. It might have been rumour- ed that the people, and the foldiers from Paris, had come to Verfailles to oppofe the execution of this very plan. And from ex- perience we know to what a degree the opi- nion of the kingdom is fwayed by that mul- titude of pamphlets which, under the gui- dance of the fame fpirit, and difperfed with unequalled activity, may be faid at prefent to cover the face of France. In towns at fome diftance from Verfailles, which were the only places he would have been Mr. Nec ker. 175 been able to have retired to, the king would have met with the fame temper and diftruft; as prevailed at Paris ; and this diftruft would have been augmented by the circumftance of his being accompanied by the warmeft ad- herents of a contrary party. The king would alfo have found the minds of men agitated by the uneafinefs which the fcarcity of provifions occafioned ; and Paris, unprovided, exifting on daily fuccour brought from within and without the kingdom, would indubitably have fuffered all the horrors of famine, if, at fuch a moment, the departure of the king, and the troubles which would have followed, had deprived thofe agents of confidence whofe active interpofition was fcarcely fufficient to fupply our urgent wants. In homage to the virtue of his majefty, it becomes me to fay that this confideration produced a great effect on his mind. Paris had juft treated him with violence ; yet the welfare of Paris partly induced him to re- main near that city, and to refift thofe per- fonal motives which might have tempted him to retire. His majefty was likewife exceedingly moved, by reflecting on the violence into 7 which ij6 Administration <5f whicn fuch a multitude of people, mingled with fo many favages, might have been hunied, when, on their arrival at Verfailles, they mould not have found the king. All that part of the National AfTembly whofe political principles had rendered them fuf- pected would have been accufed of his flight : and the mind fhudders at imagining the hor- rors to which a moment fo tumultuous might have given birth. The right of forming con- jectures fo dreadful has unfortunately been acquired, by the recollection of the abomi- nable excefles of the night of the 5th of Octo* ber, and the crimes committed in the midft of regular troops, in the bofom of apparent order, and in the facred abode of the auguft head of the nation. Let us at prefent banifh thefe mocking recollections* Oh, that they could for ever be effaced from the memory of man I In fine, at the clofe of events fo unfortu- nate, of which the departure of the king would have been the caufe or the pretext, after thofe guilty excefles which would have been juftified by combining them with fome grand revolution, and as the rcfult of the firft bold ftep would have been a fuccefhon of Mr.Necker. 177 of ftill bolder, it cannot be affirmed that new meafures for the government of the kingdom would not have been propofed ; and that the authority of the king and the fupport of the monarchy would not by de- grees have been in peril. There are fo many paffions ready to profit by great incidents, and ardent to feize on them, that, in a ftate of extreme confufion, the final confequences mud ever remain unknown. It was this image of crowding dangers which rapidly prefented itfelf to my mind, in the fhort fpace of time during which the part it became the king to take was debated* And if his prudent determination actually prevented the fhedding of rivers of blood; if it preferved the kingdom from the horrors of a civil war, the monarchy from tottering, and Paris from famine ; if it were the fafe- guard of a part of the National AfTembly ; and if, as I believe, it protected the ftate from the greater!: of misfortunes ; thofe who, according to the meafure of their influence, had the happinefs to contribute to it, far from meriting reproach, eftablifhed real claims on the gratitude of the nation. The fame fpirit of peace and public be- N nevolence 178 Administration of nevolence which fixed the refolution of his majefty, made him anxious concerning the commotions which his arrival at Paris might occafion in the provinces. Thefe he was active to prevent ; and he fucceeded by a pro- clamation in which I endeavoured to exprefs the fentiments of kindnefs and affection by which his majefty was animated ; and which, circumftanced as he was, fo perfectly accorded with his prudence. Thofe who for a moment regretted that the king did not profit by the conftraint that was exercifed towards him, to raife a part of the nation in his favour, were foon con- vinced that their calculations and predictions were as inconfiderate on that occafion as on many others. The intereft taken in his fitu- ation was confounded with thofe general fen- timents which his virtue infpired. The pro- vinces made no remonftrance ; and the at- tention of the public was foon entirely fixed on the political views which were connected with the refidence of his majefty in the metropolis. This new refidence, and the whole of the king's fituation, increafed the difficulties of government and rendered its tafk more deli- cate. Mr. Necker. 179 Cate. Confiderations, formerly unheard of, daily- influenced its proceedings. The truth muft be fpoken : the fafety of the king became for a time the fole intereft of the miniftry. He was in the midft of a people by whom he was beloved, but over whom dangerous men had acquired an abfolute dominion. He was there at a moment when the fcarcity of pro- visions, and the recollection of pad alarms, might each inftant become the Subject and the ready means of inSurrection. Caution there- fore was neceffary ; and, for the firft time, the fpontaneous Sentiments of the king, and the apprehenfion of an unknown and infinite danger, made his implicit conformity to all the decrees of the National AfTembly appear to be a prudent meafure. I well remember the conftraint under which my proud reafon acted, by the captivity in which it was Jield : and I recollect, with fome pleafure, having feized an opportunity in which a refponfibility for events, a refpon- fibility fo flrangely impofed upon adminiftra- tion, brought on a caufe perfonal to them- felves, and permitted them to addrefs the na- tion without riiking any thing but their own fafety and character. N 2 The xSo Administration of The difcourfe I pronounced, as may per- haps flill be remembered, pofleffed all that dignity which appertains to freemen ; and it was in no manner tainted by the delicacy of the moment, and the critical fituation of the miniftry. I alfo occafionally made fuch remarks, to the National Affembly, as its operations of finance and the ftate of affairs feemed to re- quire from me ; and, notwithftanding the difiike which thefe remarks incurred, I am too honeft not to own that more would have been made, on other fubje&s, had my advice prevailed in the council. But a fyftem of general and unreftrained conceffion, a fyftem that was right when the king firft repaired to Paris, was afterward continued from ha- bit. I often oppofed it; but I fhall only obferve .that, after having failed in various attempts to induce the king to fix the atten- tion of the National Affembly on the decree relative to names and titles, I obtained leave from his majefty to publifh, under his au- thority, my report on that important queftion. From various views and for the general intereft, I am led to believe that it would have been right to have fubjected fuch of the 4 decrees Mr. Necker. i 8 i decrees as, in the judgment of his majefty and of his council, appeared to contain re- markable inconveniences, to new objections ; and even formally to have rejected them, in the exprefs terms of the fufpenlive veto. This plan I would have purfued in its full extent, and without any other circumfpection than what might have arifen from any extraordi- nary event. Thus would my character have led me to have acted, and thus have I always acted in fuch public functions as 1 have been called to exercife. Never did I feel myfelf overawed in the difcharge of fuch duties ; and the National AfTembly itfelf, auguft as it is, and notwithftanding its refentment, has never feen me treating but as its equal, when, in the name of his majefty, I have had to fupport reafon, juftice, and the laws of hu- manity. In the fame characteriftic fpirit no one has more ardently defended or aided pub- lic freedom, and the conftitution by which it was to be fecured, than myfelf. An unde- niable proof of this was feen in the memo- rable epocha of the 4th of February 1 79 1 ; and the effential part I took in the conduct of the king ought of itfelf to have preferved N 3 xne 182 Administration of me from that fevere indifference of which I now complain. Never was conduct more conformable to the national wifh ; and it has been cele- brated in a thoufand different modes through every part of the kingdom. The difcourfe of his majefty, among an infinite number of other marks of refpect, was engraved in letters of gold on a plate of brafs, and hung up in the H6tel-de-Ville. Thofe who read it never fail to blefs the fentiments and lan- guage of his majefty ; and tears of affection frequently flow from their eyes. Were they difpofed to be juft, imprcflions fo pleafing might fometimes induce them to think of me. But to me alone is referved the obliga- tion and the labour of defending myfelf, againfl thofe who have hated me for this very difcourfe ; and this is the part which ingratitude has acted towards me on various occafions. Perhaps it will be faid that in every re- solution, every ftep and every difcourfe of the monarch, he alone ought to be confidered, he alone fhould be perceived, and that his mi- niflers have no claims. I grant it moft wil- lingly. Mr. Neck er, 183 lingly. Let but thofe fentiments of which it is wifhed to deprive me be added to the mare of his majefty, and I will never com- plain. But I fufpecl: that, in fuch deductions, ceconomy finds nothing fuperfluous to beftow. Neverthelefs it would be a fingular fyftem. which mould attribute all the good to the king, and all the ill to his minifters. They would be the only perfons who never could enjoy an alternate fucceffion of cenfure and praife, reproach and gratitude. Thus the law of refponfibility would be a law of vengeance, and never of love. On fuch conditions a National Aflembly would affuredly be a fevere tafk-mafter. Or does it conceive fo high an idea of money as to imagine that the am- bition of minifters mould folely be confined to their falaries ? Can it even think that, in virtue of thefe annual, quarterly or month- ly payments, they may very legitimately be cenfured, and treated imperioufly at pleafure ? But in this fordid view of the fubjec~t, there ftill would be a diftinttion to make in favour of thole who act without wages. What would the aflembly fay if, beeaufe of feven or eight millions which the nation pays them, the nation mould imagine itfelf under no ties N 4 of 184 Administration of of gratitude ? The afTembly rigidly requirea its quota on the firft of the month ; yet it is pleafed like others to accept letters of com- pliment and congratulation into the bargain ; and that it might receive this furplus without delay, it has frequently facrificed the firft hour of its fittings. It ought therefore to acl: toward others as it wifhes others mould act towards it. This is the firft law of equity. I give free vent to my thoughts ; and re- turning to the king I fhall fay that the true friends of his perfon have always teftified friendfhip towards me. Having obferved me from my firft miniftry, and read the works that I compofed when out of office, having iludied alfo my conduct fince my return to the adminiftration, they have doubtlefs re- marked that no man was ever more induftri- ous to difplay the qualities and virtues of the monarch. They have {qqyi me do this with- out flattery, but with that circumfpeclion and decorum which s infpire confidence, and' the fecret of which is known only to truth. When the king has confided to me the office of expreffing his fentiments and opinions, my greateft care has been to make him loved, blefled and known. I have kept this thought conftantly Mr. Necker. 185 conftantly in view, and, recollecting two ba ? nifhments and fome other accidents, the con- duct I held is one of my greateft confolations. It became the moll imperious of my duties, when amid the general commotion, the refult of which is often beyond the reach of calcula- tion, I confidered the attachment of the nation to the perfon of the king as a point from which to rally, as a retaining power, and which under all imaginable errors might alone ferve as the protection of the monarchy. How great an object for the meditation of princes ! How encouraging for them to be vir- tuous ! The florin increafes, the waves fwell, alarm is gone forth ; and their character like the rainbow recals hope, and promifes a ferener fky ! Never did the king difplay fo many virtues, never did he act more agreeably to his own character, than during the fitting of the 4th of February ; and yet his motives were greater than his ads. By one laft effort he was defir- ous of reftoring peace to his kingdom ; and, to effect this, he thought it necefTary to fix the public opinion relative to his political fenti- ments. He beheld a dangerous diffidence predominate ; a diffidence which retarded the labours i86 Administration of labours of the National Affembly, which kept Paris in an alarming fermentation, and which manifefted itfelf in the provinces by infurrec- tions and ads of violence. It was univer- fally affirmed that the calm would be reftored, would but the king be explicit ; would he but freely open his heart, and infpire confi- dence by the authority of his own example. Every word he addreffed to the affembly was in this fpirit. He explained himfelf in the moft unequivocal terms on the fubjecV dcareft to the nation. " I will therefore defend and maintain that c< conftitutional freedom, the principles of u which the general wiih, according with ** my own, has rendered facrcd. I will do *' more : in concert with the queen, who " partakes my fentiments, I will early prepare " the heart of my fon to purfue that new or- " der of affairs which circumftances have pro- " duced. I will habituate him from his " childhood to rejoice at the happinefs of *' France ; and ever to acknowledge, in de- " fpite of the language of parafites, that a wife " conRitution will preferve him from the " dangers of inexperience ; and that true li- " bcrty adds increafing value to the fentiments " of cc Mr. Necker. 187 of love and fidelity, of which the nation, " during a fucceffion of ages, has given its " kings fuch affecting proofs." He exprefled in the moft feeling manner the grief with which he was penetrated, at hearing the difoi;ders which increafed fo faft in the provinces. " Join with me to impede fuch exceffes, " and let us, by every effort, prevent thofe " criminal violences degrading to the age in " which the happinefs of the nation takes its " date. You who have fo many means of ob- " taining the public confidence, do you teach " the people their true interefts, from which " they ftray ; a people fo dear to me, by " whom they tell me I am beloved, when " they wifh to afford me confolation amid " my griefs. Oh ! were it known how " wretched I am, when I hear the unjuft at- " tempts made on the fortunes, or acts of out- " rage on the perfons of my fubjects, perhaps " this bitternefs of affliction would not be *" heaped upon me." He fhewed himfelf attentive to the indem- nities due to thofe who had been fubjected to great facrifices, and recalled the affembly to the recollection of a fubject fo worthy of its at- tention. " Give i8S Administration of " Give an example of that fpirit of juftice <l which is the protector of property ; and of " that claim held in refpect by all nations, H which is not the work of chance, which ff derives not its privileges from opinion, but " which is ultimately connected with the " moft effential ties of public order, and the " " firft conditions of focial harmony." He defpaired however of feeing every wrong redrefTed as he could have wifhed ; and efpe- cially thofe which feemed to be inherent in the new order of affairs ; and, with the moft af- fecting felf-application, he thus fpoke to thofe who fupport fuch injuries : ' I alfo mould have loffes to enumerate, * were I, amid the great interefts of the ftate, " to defcend to perfonal calculation ; but I " am fully compenfated by the increafe of na- " tional happinefs ; and I fay this from the u bottom of my heart.'* In fine, he employed the moft ardent lan- guage, in endeavouring to calm the ^public mind and to allay animofity. He then fixed his eyes on thofe who had moft need of effort* to forget the paft ; and thus feelingly fpoke : " Let thofe who ftill fly the fpirit of con- " cord, now fo neceffary, facrifice to me the " memory of things by which they are afflidt- u ed; Mr. N ec ker* 289 * e ed ; and I will repay them with my grati- ' tude and my affection. " Oh ! wherefore was it that fo much reafon and fo much goodnefs, on the part of the mo- narch, were fo little fuceefsful ? How diffe- rent an effecT: would a word from his mouth have produced, in the days of his profperity! I often remark, with grief, the different in- fluences of our prevailing fentiments ; and fixing my attention particularly on political paffions, I have fometimes doubted of the dignity of their origin, when I difcover how obftinately they refufe to combine themfelves with the feelings of fenfibility. They intro- duce, it is true, other manners, and other prin- ciples ; but often, in their courfe, they bear away the good fruit with the bad ; and where they have palTed we imagine we behold a land which burning lava has deftroyed, and which requires a new courfe of culture. Let us return to reafoning, the only thing we love in thefe times of apathy, though the emotions of the mind are perhaps only reafon nearer perfection, a refult drawn from nature, that great mafter in all things, that inftitutor who has no equal, and who beftowing on us the gift of feeling, has in that form beflowed the 190 Administration of the mod fimple, the firft, and moft learned of all combinations. A party rofe to oppofe the difcourfe of the king on the 4th of February, and his profeflions of adherence to the principles of the conftitu- tion. And what were thofe principles ? The indifibluble eftabliihment of a National Af- fembly, the members of which, without dif- tinction of rank, mould be elected by the na- ' tion ; an affembly, which, under the fanction of the king, a fanction abfolutely free but upon the fuppofition of the uniform demand of three legiflatures, would have a right to impofe taxes, authorife loans, regulate public expences, and exerciie without referve all the functions which appertain to a legiflative body. In fine, liberty the moft unlimited, protected by the laws with every precaution that the pre- fcrvation of a good fo ineftimable renders ne- ceffary, formed one of the efTential conditions of this fame conftitution. There was nothing in thefe principles which might not, which ought not to augment the public felicity, the profperity of the ftate, national refpect, and the real flrength of the empire. Thefe principles contained nothing which could affect the individual happinefs of the mo- 5 narch 5 Me. Nec ker. 191 narch ; nor any thing derogatory to his glory. .They had in a great part been propofed by himfelf, at the conclufion of council held on the 27th of December, 1788, and in the dif- courfe delivered by his permiffion at the open- ing of the States General. The union of the different orders, though pofterior to thefe dates, had been provoked by the king ; and I have fhewn that the fufpenfive veto, another re- markable innovation in the order of the con- ftitutional laws, was preferable, both for the king and the public good, to any oppofition of an indefinite term. A grand and important public affair was Mill to be regulated. It was the corner ftone, as it were ; and the king, in his difcourfe of the 4th of February, brought it publicly before the nation. " I cannot have any doubt" thefe were his majefty's words " I cannot have any " doubt but that, in finifhing your work, you " will ferioufly employ yourfelves, with pru- " dence and with candour, to render the exc- " cutive power permanent. It is a condition " without which no durable order can exift *' within, nor any refpect without the king- " dom. You can have no reafonable doubts " remaining. igi Administration of " remaining. It is therefore your duty, as ci* '* tizens and as faithful reprefentatives of the cc <i cc M a l CC M M nation, to fecure, for the good of the ftate and public freedom, that (lability which can only be derived from an active and tutelary authority. You will furely remember that, without fuch an authority, every part of your conftitutional fyftem will remain dif- u jointed and incongruous ; and while em- " ployed on the liberty you love, and which I " love alfo, you will not forget that diforder M in administration introduces a confufion of rights, and oft -a degenerates, by acts of blind outrage, into the mod dangerous and alarming defpotifm." This executive power, recommended by the monarch as a neceffary condition of a wife and benevolent constitution, had it been eftablifhed in a proper manner, would have been fufficient to impart a regular momentum to every branch of the legiflation. Experi- ence would have {hewn the advantages of the various individual regulations adopted by the National AiTembly ; as the king himfelf ob- ferved M Time will reform whatever fhall " remain defective, in that collection of laws " which have been the work of this aflembly." Without Mr. Nec ker. 193 Without imprudence therefore, and without forgetting the general good, the king volunta- rily adhered to the principles of the conftitu- tion, fuch as they were announced on the 4th of February. And the more he was perfuaded that the completion of thefe principles de- pended on the eftablifhment of an executive power, the more was it his duty to deprive the National ArTembly of all doubt, concerning the principles he had eftablifhed as his guide, and the fentiments by which he was animated. The declaration of his Majefty on the 4th of February, thus confidered, was equally politic and generous. I felt how neceffary it was that the king fliould fay with truth " From " this time forth, no fufpicion ought to har- " bour in your breafts." The nation muft judge whether fuch confidence in the king as mould eftablifh an executive power, and enable him to preferve obedience to the laws and maintain public order, were a reafonable confidence ; and whether it has been granted. The nation muft judge whether the views of the monarch, after his adherence to the principles of the conftitu- tion, were faithfully fulfilled. O I have 194 Administration of I have now to examine fome other objec- tions; efpecially thofe which the chiefs of one party proclaim in foreign countries, where they often gain credit. The reproach rnoft frequently repeated re- lates to the affected indifference which I have fhewn for means of corruption ; means, fay they, praetifed in all countries with political affemblies ; and, purfuing this idea, the per- fons who treat me beft ridicule my moral prin- ciples. According to them, by thefe principles and by this falfe delicacy, I have occafioned the lofs of all ; and the greateft of Machiavels would better have ferved the king andthe ftate. 1 do not conceal this objection ; but I think it among the Angularities of the prefent age that I am obliged to anfwer it j that I am ob- liged to apologize for not having willingly purchaicd votes, fuborned confeiences, and corrupted men to give falfe opinions ; ideas which at another period would have been re- jected as defpicable. Am I to fuftain reproach like this ? Is it to this age, is it to me that fuch difhonour belongs ? I believe it would not be difficult to defend myfelf, by fuch ar- guments and arms as the Machiavel they re- gret Mr. Necker. 195 gret would have afforded. But, before I em- ploy them, before I can reconcile it to my feelings, before I can act thus without blu(h- ing, I mud obferve that, having early testified to the king my perfonal repugnance to means of corruption, I fulfilled, by this avowal, by this open profefllon of my fentiments, every obligation towards the monarch : for, from that moment, he might have called in another minifter, and in this refpect have followed the example of all princes, when thofe of whom they have made choice, whether from habits of mind or from principle, are found unluitable to the exifting circumftances: and thus the king conducted himfelf on the 1 ith of July. I had explained myfelf to his majefty, in the moft clear and pofitive manner, on the advan- tages and difad vantages of my character; and at a conference' which was held in the king's cabi- net, about the time of the convocation of the States General, at which the principal minifters Were prefent, I remember I was led by the ar- dour of difcuffion to fay in the prefence of his majefty, that fo long as a prudent mind, a worthy character, and a dignified heart might influence the public opinion, I perhaps lhould be as able to ferve the itate as any man ; but mould the courfeof events require a Mazarine, or a Rich e- O 2 heu 196 Administration of lieu (thofe were my very words), from that moment I mould be unfit to be at the head of public affairs. In effect, men have each their nature ; and the more ftrongly this nature is appropriate to certain circumftances, the lefs is it indiftinctly applicable to all. There is but one manner of acting in great affairs ; for as for all thofe fuperficial qualities, of which a man of genius obtains as many as he pleafes, they only compofe an aflbrtment of manners, proper to fill up the trifling hours of familiar fociety, or adapted to the common circum- ftances of life. Place me amid men fufceptible of reafon and feeling, and I think I can make fome impreflion upon them ; and perhaps mould deferve to be chofen as one of their guides. But, if it be neceffary to deceive, to corrupt, to enflave, and to overawe them with rods of iron, I am a man unfit for fuch a mini- ftry. A Mazarine, a Richelieu, muft then be fought for. Having by the avowal of my fentiments proved myfelf to be irreproachable, I will exa- mine in a more political view, whether the fyftem of corruption, which I am cenfured for having rejected or not feen the neceffity of, be worthy of regret. And firft it is forgotten, that in the firft ar- 7 dour Mr. Necker, 197 dour of paflion, and when the moft fplendid hopes preient themfelves, it is not eafy to turn afide the chiefs of a National AfTembly. More difficulties ftill will be encountered, when fame prefents to them all the delights of no- velty. It is alfo forgotten that fuch tempta- tions tendered in money, muft foon have been perceived ; and the government, and efpecially the firft minifter, muft have loft the efteem and confidence of the nation, fentiments that had for fo long a time appeared the fubftitute and produced all the effects of force. Befide, of what avail would the gaining of fome mem- bers have been ? Every man was on the watch, and the mercenary would foon have been known, foon have been rendered fufpicious, and foon have become a burthen to his paymafter. The corrupter and the corrupted, after having quarrelled perhaps concerning the price of their mutual difgrace, muft at laft have broken their engagement ; happy, after having parted, could they but forget the bargain. The example of England is often cited, where it is faid corruption is conftantly em- ployed. But firft let me obferve that parlia- mentary votes are not there bought with mo- ney. The heavy expences to which the En- O 3 glifh 198 Administration of glifh fubjecl: themfelves to carry their elections, manifeftly prove that they do not aim at pecu- niary retribution, in obtaining thefe places. Were the public treafury to indemnify them for their expences, it would become a great burthen to the {late. The minifter gains them therefore lbmetimes by actually beftowing, and often by leading them to hope for, ufeful and honourable offices. But at the commence- ment of the States General, when there were important offices to beftow, or brilliant titles {o grant, thefe kind of favours were fuch as bur one clafs of men could accept ; and that clafs, infinitely circumfcribed, was previoufly. attached by various ties to the royal caufe. Befide, if it be true that men are held rather by hope than by gratitude, perhaps the greateft poiTible effect would be produced from ufelefs offices by neither granting nor promifing them to any perfon. Law offices, being moft of them either ne- gotiable or tranfmittable, afforded no linking mode of recompenfc ; and offices of finance re- quired capitals fo great, that for a long time none but the moft opulent could pretend to then An idea was conceived o r fending a member of the couimons, a man of worthy talents, on 3 a par- Mr. N.ec ker. 199 a particular miflion to Corfica. This arrange- ment was made while I was detained at home by illnefs. I terrified my regret to jthe mi- niftry, and propofed the fame fentiments in his majefty's prefence, on the firft day of my return to the council. The event proved that I had judged rightly ; for the National AC- fembly, as foon as it was informed of the ap- pointment, forbad all its members to accept any place in the gift of the king. I really know not in what manner, or at what period, the raoft remarkable men among the com- mons could effectually have been gained. It may be more practicable toward the clofe of an affembly, becaufe there is then not time enough perhaps for the affembly to jnfpect and difcover the proceedings of thofe of its members who mall have changed fides ; but I doubt whether fuch a fcheme would be fafe, if the Affembly mould have two months to fit. Let it be added that, mould govern^ ment appear to confide in two or three par- ticular members, and expect fervices from them, the others, being offended, would have an additional fpur to endeavour to fignalize themfelves on the oppofite party. It has been feen, and is ftiil vifible, that O 4, the 2oo Administration of the National Affembly, which appears to be the fole legiflative power, is itfelf iubje&ed to popular authority. It owns not any fuch dominion ; but it is fecretly confcious and always refpectful of it. A doubtful advantage would therefore only have been gained, had it even been poffible to have obtained a ma- jority, in the National Affembly, by corrup- tion. Such a majority would only have been fufficient to carry inferior queftions ; for thofe of an important nature depend on another power: and the National Affembly, convinced of this, and knowing how neceffary it is that they mould be refpected and obeyed, care- fully confult that fluctuating and formidable power whofe voice thunders louder than their own ; a power which perhaps they them- felves raifcd, but which foon thought proper to acl: imperioufly in its own behalf. Wherever legiflation is confided to a repre- fentative body, public opinion actuates this body more or lefs ; and government cannot by any means induce it to depart from a cer- tain degree of circumfpection. England af- fords a proof of, this truth. The minifter not only has the diftributiqn of numerous places, but is openly tolerated in employing this Mr. Necker, 201 this mode of gaining a party in his favour in parliament. Yet his afcendancy never could extend itfelf beyond queftions of ad- miniftration. Whatever affected the conftitu- tion, whatever infringed on the fan&uary of liberty, was incapable of every fpecies of influence. It may be faid that the limits of corruption have been defcribed and traced, and that all attempts to extend thofe limits are vain. If fuch in England be the confines of mi- nifterial power over the houfe. of commons, it may well be conceived that, at prefent, the fame kind of influence mult be much lefs in France. A II is patriotic ardour at the beginning of a revolution ; all is love of, all is en- thufiafm for freedom, while men continue to recollect ages of flavery. It is the moment of the birth of thought and fenfibility, and no boundaries having been yet afligned them by the authority of experience, each in his delirium runs into extremes without any guide. How, in times of fuch emotion, would it have been poffible to fix the minds of men fo as to direct, and reftrain the firft expanfion of fuch various pretentions ? Thofe who mould have fold themfelves to government at 202 Administration op at fach a moment, would have fhewn the narrownefs of their judgment, and thofe who were worth being purchafed would have dif- dained to fet themfelves on fale, Nor mould it be forgotten that, at a period fo remarkable, one of the greater!: known to hiftory, the members who by their eloquence have mod afcendancy in the National ArTem- bly, are watched by fuch numerous followers, that nothing could in their opinion compen- fate for the triumph for which they hope, and which they have occafionally enjoyed. This glory befide is of a particular nature : it con- fifhs not in diftant. fplendor, of which ima- gination forms a picture to itfelf j its concen- trated rays brought into a fmall compafs beam with effective brilliancy ; and glory like thlc t clad in prefent honour and prefent applaufe, elevates the foul fuperior to the calculations of avarice and the common wiihes of ambition. I have obferved that corruption in England, powcrlcfs with refpect to conftitutional prin- ciples, could influence ininifterial queftions. But in France, at a time when the ideas of men have undergone the mod entire revolu- tion, minifterial queftions are confounded with every other queftion, or at leaft the line of demarcation, Mr. Necker. 1103 demarcation cannot be generally perceived. The fufpicious and miftruftful difpofition^ which alone predominates at fiich a moment, muft be allayed; that thofe objects may be plainly feen over which the influence of go- vernment is not only reafonable but often neceffary. Till then, the pra&ice of England cannot be applied to France. Such practice is tolerated there, becaufe experience has taught the relations of things, becaufe the principles of the conftitution are univerfally. known, and the time is long pafTed that the people were under any neceflity to difputc on the rudiments of our learned theories. The Englifh have not reduced the rights of men to fentences ; but the fimpleft of their citizens is acquainted with the laws of his country, and to them is indebted for his fafety, his happinefs and his freedom. There- fore, without infpiring fears of the minifter, who is never without a check, and under the knowledge and toleration of the nation, government; ftrengthens its powers by diftri- buting penfions and places which are left at its difpofal. But, in France, we are in the rft effervefcence of freedom, and are fearlefs of excefs. This ought not to excite our aitonifh- 204 Administration of aftonimment : we do not water the carriage wheels at the beginning of a journey. A truth however refults from all thefe reflections ; which is, that thofe difcover their own barrennefs of mind, who, occu- pied by the ordinary affairs of life, and with- out having attended to the gradual develope- ment of an unparalleled revolution, without having ftudied the innumerable obftacles with which adminiftration had to ftruggle, think they can {hew from one fingle idea, and that idea the fimpleft of all, how every thing originated, and how every thing might have been remedied. How can they imagine that, had the removal of all difficulties depended on a fingle thought, that thought would have occurred to none but themfelves? Yet do many reafonable people, chinking their gui- neas, tranquilly fay By the aid of thefe we would have Jet all to rights. Howabfurd! Much like the folly of another kind, when young girls, looking in their glaffes and turning their ring- lets round their fingers, with great levity tell the philofophers of one and twenty who are about their toilet The doubling the number of the Titers Etat has been the caufe of all. Thus by the aid of two or three phrafes, a political vade Mr. Necker, 205 vade mecum is compofed, with which fuch perfons feem to be perfectly fatisfied. I have ftill a few words to beftow on a re- proach which is akin to that I have laft dif- cuffed. It is faid that all poflible means mould at leaft have been employed to influ- ence elections. But have fuch perfons ima- gined the means by which twelve hundred members, elected, not by a certain number of landholders, but by all the inhabitants of a kingdom like France, may be influ- enced ? And fuppofe that, with great dif- ficulty though little probability, a preference might have been gained in favour of a few ; was it for the king to have fet the exam- ple of intrigue and corruption, in feeking to obtain votes ? I will omit morality, and afk, would it have been politic, on any calculation, for an advantage fo fmall, thus to have dif- honoured the fame of majefty ? The only perfons who can regret that means fo con- temptible were not employed, muft be the enemies of government, who are defirous that ' it mould be guilty of error, "to authorife their fufpicions and excufe their injuftice. Befide, only confidering for a moment the intereft of 2o6 Administration of of the royal authority, I afk how thofe per- fons could have previoufly been known who fhould hereafter oppofe that authority ? By what fpirit of divination, what magic, could any man prefage that the monarch ought to have fufpected men long accuftomed to re- ceive his benefits ; men who openly travelled the high road of ambition, and who were at- tached, fome to the court, fome to the mini- dry, fome to the firft bodies of the flate, and Others to the conducting the affairs of the firft families in France ? How could the temper and the character of a multitude of citizens, elected members, be forefeen; fome of whom, on account of their youth, and others from their previous employments, were fcarcely known ; and who for the firft time in their lives gave their opinion on politics in the National Affembly ? All thefe men, new to the world, new to public affairs, were formed by circumftances, and put in motion by the impetuous breath of opinion. Had it blown in a contrary direction, we perhaps fhould have feen them act in a different manner. A fmall number of exceptions fhould be made ; and I would be more explicit, did I not defire to avoid being pexfonal. But I have, Mr, NfiCKER. 207 nave fufficiehtly anfwered the objection I had to examine ; and I fhall conclude with a re- mark applicable to this difcuffion. If, previ- ous to the convocation of the States General, it had been thought indifpenfably neceflary to corrupt by intrigue the deputies of the nation, together with the elective aflemblies and the various inhabitants of the forty-three thou- fand communities of the kingdom, I would without hefkation rather have advifed the king to renounce any fuch convocation. Much lefs difficulty and inconvenience would have refulted from one cafe than from the other ; and having once facrificed all ideas of true dignity, every noble and* generous tenet, and all union of moral and political principles, my advice mould have been to have continued the former government. Nor am I convinced, confidering what was the progrefs of opinion at that time, and the confidence that was placed in me, that it would have been impoflible for me to have induced the people to forget, at lead during my adminiftration, their recent wifhes for the calling of the States General. But I had confidered that the alTembling of the national reprefentatives round the throne was 208 Administration of was a thought worthy both of the heart and of the underftanding ; and that it ought not to be degraded by a fyftem of corruption. On the contrary I imagined that elevated fen- timents better became fo noble an enterprize, and that fuch fentiments deferved to be en- couraged and increafed. I farther thought that at the moment of a convocation like this, infpired by the public good, and aflembled in the name of the nation, every tie of con- fidence and fraternity would give additional ftrength. I believed gratitude to be the great- eft of pleafures ; and that an act fo generous, on the part of the monarch, would but in- creafe the* affections of his fubjects. I mould have blufhed to fuppofe that flavery was more nearly allied to love than liberty. But the error which I and all France have been guilty of, was that of not forefeeing that, in this phi- lofophical age, ^fyftems and theories, thofe idols of the underftanding, would obtain the flrft homage} and obliterate every other form of worfhip. Aflifted by the other minifters, I was therefore fatisfied with writing to the men in office, throughout the provinces, to direct, to the beft of their abilities, the choice of the people Mr. NecKer. 09 people towards worthy reprefentatives ; and we contented ourfelves with feconding the recommendation of the king, which was con- tained in thefe terms, in his letter for the convocation of the States General. " His majefty particularly expects that the *' voice of confcience will alone be liftened to k< in the choice of deputies to the States Gene- u raL He exhorts the electors to recollect " that men of underftanding deferve the pre- ki ference ; and that, from a happy agree* " ment between morals and politics, it fel- " dom happens, in public and national affairs, " that the mod virtuous men are not alfo " the moft able." At prefent a maxim like this may perhaps be laughed at, and men may think they are reading ancient fables. Let them fufpend their judgments, let them wait till a man mall appear in their aflembly of fuperior talents, in every fenfe of the word, and endowed with the gift of diftinguifhing and combining all the vigour of virtue with all the rectitude of found judgment; and it will then be feen whether he will be impeded by his morality ; it will be feen whether he will not be greater than any of the prefent great, and whether P he 2io Administration op he will not attract to himfelf all the new raifed troops of this aflembly. I have ftill an objection to anfwer. But firft perhaps it will be necefTary to apologize to the victorious party, for the attention I pay to the reproaches of its antagonifts. I hear them fay Are they not fubdued ? Have we not dif- fufed light every where? Have we not our correfpondents, our daily papers, which dictate laws to opinion, and at our will agitate the public, and excite the paflions to the precife degree we think necefTary ? Some of us com- mand in the eaft, others in the weft. This man fpeaks the language beft adapted to the inhabitants of the plain, that delivers himfelf in the rude dialed: of the mountaineers. All is properly provided for ; from one end of the kingdom to the other the people are taught, by each day's port, how to feel and what to think. You experienced this yourfelves when you pafled through Vefoul and Arcis-fur-Aube : half a page was fufficient to inform you of the reception you were there to meet with. I am well aware that every precaution is taken to guide the faith of the French. But fomething Mr. Necker, ait fomething farther is necefTary for Europe, and for pofterity. Our affairs and our difputes are Left underftood at a diftance. Ideas arrive there unincumbered and in a manner purified from the firft effervefcence of paflion. Truth is there not only feparated from falfehood ; but all the knots likewife of difguife, infinuation, exaggeration, and empiricifm, are untied. Men place themfelves in the centre of the two extremes, and have thus a nearer view of each than either of them individually has of the other. Hence a fevere examination will foon be held before the auguft tribunal of reafon, which fhall direct futurity in its immutable judgment concerning the prefent race. And that my caufe may there be heard, I forbear to confound it with that of others, and think proper to reply to the different reproaches of different parties. The following then is the new objection of which I fpoke. " If means of corruption " mult have been avoided, becaufe they were " thought impracticable, awe mould at leaft *' have been infpired ; by exerting the royal ** authority more energy fhouid have been <l difplayed ; the rifing troubles mould have " been flopped in their progrefs, by mea- P a " fure$ 211 Administration of " fures more vigorous ; and all pollible acci- " dents mould have been boldly encoun- " tered." But would this have been a wife fyftem in the month of July 1789 ? And fince the dis- affection of the troopi and the general arming of the kingdom, have the chances become more favourable ? To me it feems that the pardfans of violent meafures, who dread not the miferies of civil war, might be requefted to accompany their reproaches and their advice with a plan for taking the field, which fhould at leaft be ap- plicable to fome one of thofe circumftances in which the king was placed. This would not be requiring too much of thofe who treat with difdain the prudent and wife plans adopted by government ; and who regret, but always in general terms, the want of force and rigour. Difcuffions on public affairs muft become purely ideal and fcholaflic, if feparated from an cftimate of the means of execution ; and it is unhappily thus that, after a certain period, the theory only remains of any political queftion, and the decifion has no relation to things as tluy really were. Perhaps it will be faid that there had b^en 7 iniur- Mr. Necker. 213 infurre&ions before the revolution of the month of July 1 789, and previous to the limi- tations which events and legiflative decrees prefcribed to the royal authority, and that a fingle example would then have been effectual. Only two fuch infurrections, worthy of notice, can however be quoted. One at Paris in the Fauxbourg St. Antoine, which was immedi- ately quelled by the military power ; and the other at Marfeilles, which was not the effer- vefcence of a moment ; it was fupported by the majority of the citizens; it was in the fpirit of the times ; and I believe that, had violent meafures been raftily ufed, and prefer- red to that cautious mode which allayed the ftorm without bloodfhed, much danger would have been, incurred. The chance of revolt in a city fo populous as that of Marfeilles, a city in which the peftiferous vapours are arretted, and where the plague is as it were held pri- foner, a city which thus acts as the protector of the whole kingdom the chance I fay of re- volt in fuch a city prefents dangers fo great, fo terrible to the imagination, that we ought ftill to blefs, with all the worthy citizens of Mar- feilles, thofe wife expedients by which it was prevented. P 3 Burthened U4 Administration of Burthened as I am by thoughts the irtoft afflicting, I flill have the right to mew that, in the courfe of events the moft unexpected, the mofl ftrange, and amid the fufpicions and agitations by which they have been preceded and followed, I fay, amidft tempefts fo nume- rous it was the prudence and moderation of government, and the circumfpection of its mea'fures, which probably prevented the gene- ral fubverfion of the kingdom. In fine, and I have already alluded to this idea, I early faw the minds of men hurried away by every kind of project. I was diffident of an unknown power, which, while directing the public opinion, enveloped its progrefs and final purpofes in a cloud : and I was led to think the attachment of the nation to the per- fon of his majefty, a fenfation ever precious, might again become the fupport of royalty. Guided by a reflection, the effect of which doubtlefs appeared even to myfelf infinitely uncertain, but the importance of which fixed my attention, my endeavours were eager after fuch caution and fuch acts of moderation, as might enfure to the king the affection of hi* people. I dwell Mr. Necker, 215 I dwell thus minutely on the inconveniences neceiTarily refulting from the means of corrup- tion and the inconfiderateufe of power, that, as I have faid before, I may^infwer the accufations of every party. I fhall be afked perhaps, why I did not at leaft employ more care and circum- fpeclion to gain the good opinion of men of the firft influence among the commons ? I have never been deficient in any atten- tions which they have a right to expect, and have always outftripped them by the obfer- vance of every fpecies of deference that the multiplicity of my occupations would permit ; but to have fubmitted to their yoke and the laws it impofed, I muft have parted with all manly dignity and honourable pride. Many of them had early difcovered how fond they were of the overbearing tone of authority. Nothing that was bellowed proved acceptable, nothing voluntarily refigned on the part of go- vernment anfwered their wifhes ; they were defirous of extorting what would willingly have been given, and n/ obtaining by violence whatever they pollened. Senfibility, grati- tude, and all the mild affections, were foreign to their nature, or confidered as unworthy of an elevated policy ; and as my foul has been P 4 always i6 Administration of always fufceptible of thefe emotions, it was fcarcely poflible that we mould walk together. In one of my difcourfes, I know not on what occafion, my voice faultered for a moment in confequenceof the agitation of my mind. Hal he is a man of feeling, faid one of the moft dif- tinguifhed of the deputies; he cannot therefore be ajiatefman. How ruinous a fuppofition, if it were confidered as a general axiom ! It may be faid with much greater truth, that in admi- niftration, as well as in every other fort of com- merce, obduracy of heart is attended with fte- rility of ideas ; the mind poffefles one fenfe the lefs, and a fenfe too the moft fagacious an4 ufeful of all. There is alfo another point in which I can- not agree with thefe gentlemen. They have too plainly demonftrated that they are indiffer- ent what means they employ to arrive at their end : whereas it is my opinion that there is always an honourable path for conducting us to every object not unworthy of our defires, which, though it may dc longer, we ought ne- verthelefs to prefer; and without the obfervance of this excellent moral principle, which creates refpect and confidence, no purfuit can be brought to its full completion. What con- ftraint Mr. Necker. 217 ftraint and violence have they not been obliged to practife in the road they have taken ! What a deteftable ufe has been made of terror and threats ! With what characters has it not been neceflary they mould aflbciate ! With what hideous fpe&res have they not furrounded the cradle of liberty, that cradle which the paternal hands of the bed of princes had prepared with fuch generous affection ! Alas ! after fo many advances on his part, there needed nothing perhaps but virtue on the part of the affem- bly, to complete the enterprife. What different means have been preferred, when with a little moderation of fyftem, a little confideration for the oppreffed, a little refpect for long efta- blifhed opinions, and a little gentlenefs and good will, France might with filken cords have been conducted to its felicity ! I have always feen a confederation of force and cun- ning, never of fublime thoughts and generous fentiments, and for that reafon I have been un- able, from fympathy, tafte and inclination, to unite with the leaders of the popular party. Befide, as it foon became a part of their policy to attack me with all their weapons, and their weapons were numerous, I could not without degrading myfelf have taken any meafures to conci- 2i8 Administration of conciliate their favour ; and it is perhaps an additional hom ige to liberty and a proof of unchangeable affection, to have remained faithful to its caufe, notwithstanding the rough and ferocious manners of its modern knights- errant. In fpeaking of the principal leaders of the National Affembly, it becomes me to bear pub- lic tefiimony to the worth of a confiderable number of deputies who unite to the genuine character of citizens the mod refpectable mo- ral qualities, and who only want perhaps a more melodious voice and a greater confidence in their intentions and talents. It is with them I would harmonize ; it is with them I would co-operate in the advancement of hap- pinefs and liberty, without any of the concuf- nons and diforders of anarchy, and particularly without the attendants of ferocity, without tu- multuous clamours, without incendiary torches, without an axe, without decapitation. It would have been necefTary, in order to put in motion the admirable elements exifting in the National Aflembly, that the eloquence of virtue fhould have been more frequently heard. But that fpecies of it which belongs to a feeling heart and a dignified character we Mr. Necker. *i9 we have feldom feen difplayed there in any fu- perior degree. We are apt at fir ft fight to imagine that the eloquence of reafoning is the only one congenial with public affairs, and we are inclined to fuppofe that every other language is a Syren againft whofe allurements we ought to be on our guard. But reafoning, in proportion as it extends and becomes com- plicated, does not owe its triumph always to. truth ; mental fatigue or implicit faith fre- quently fucceeds in procuring it flaves ; whereas the, moil: ordinary capacities have the power of judging, without effort and as it were by inftincl:, of every thing which refpecls feeling, and of every thing indeed that is fub- lime. They are therefore the more eafily mif- ledwhen we addrefs them in a language which they cannot reconcile to their internal fenfa- tions, and cannot prove by this touchflone which they have received from the hands of nature. But I return to fome other inftance of my public conduct which it becomes me to ex- plain. I remember to have heard that my political opinions were not fufficiently definite and individual. But it is not to be fuppofed that a minifler can give to them fo bold a 2 relief 220 Administration of relief as the leader of a party, as it is incumbent on hiin to make himfelf no farther confpicu- ous than his means and his influence extend, for fear of difparaging the government of which he forms a part. It ought alfo to be obferved that in the cafe of civil diffenfions it is the fyftem of the ftronger party alone that appears to advantage ; their projects are accompanied with activity and fuccefs, and . thefe are the two indications that mod evi- dently unfold a defign. The minifter, on the contrary, who is fubjected to the .judgment of the fovercign, to the reftraint of law and the competition of events, is unable to give to his opinion, conceived in the filence of me- ditation, the character of the original fpring of the proceedings of government. After my prefent work however has been read, which gives a view of the principal meafures in which I was concerned, the char- rafter of my political adminiftration will be diftin&ly perceived. It will particularly be feenthat, from the report of council of the 27th of December 1788, an epocha when the founda- tion of constitutional liberty was completely laid, I have invariably proceeded towards one and the fame point, I have always had before Mr. Nec ker. 221 before me the fame object, the object of my conftant wifhes, and which may thus be de- fcribed in a few words : Every degree of free- dom that in a great monarchy can be made con- fident with the maintenance of public order: every concejjion in favour of the people that can be reconciled with jujlice. Both thefe princi- ples are vaft in their extent, yet are they comprehended in two ideas of a fuperior magnitude, morality and happinefs. In purfuing thefe reflections as a philofo- pher, a citizen, and the friend of humanity, I did not lofe fight of what was due to the king from one of the depofitaries of his con- fidence. I never advanced a ftep without having received his orders ; I never delivered a fentiment that was not conformable to his own. The obligations of.minifters are re- duced to a very narrow compafs now that they are refponfible only to the nation, and are degraded to the rank of agents to the National AfTembly : but formerly their du- ties were mere extenfive ; and for that reafon it would have been o*\t of my power, at the commencement of my adminiftration, to de- fcribe beforehand and in a fingle fketch the map of my route. It is true I have conftant- 222 Administration of ly walked on the fame line ; but, from the na- ture of my fituation, it could not be the ihorteft that might be drawn between two given points. We do not afk an engineer to trace out a road acn^s rocks and precipices ; it is thought prudent and advifable to wind round the hills and the valleys, that the road may be the more fafe, and the apprehenfions of the traveller difpelled. A reprefentative aflembly alone can make a grand and fpacious march : being the image of the national wifh, the whole country is its domain ; and ftrong in this wifh, its empire is boundlefs. While opinion does not rife up againft it, it can draw its immenfe rolling- fione over men and things, unimpeded by any obftacles. The confolation it offers for the bruifes inflicted by this violent preflure, is the general extent of the injury ; and it is the peculiar and fad privilege of the aflembly to diminifh the effect of the evil by increafing its influence. There is one efleptial meafure refpecling which my private fentiments could not be diftinctly avowed ; I refer to the National Aflembly being formed of one or more cham- bers. Mr. Necker. $2$ !)ers. The divifion into three chambers, as was firft propofed, it was manifeftly impofli* ble to fupport. The probability of uniting the fentiments of four different parties in di- getting one conflitution, fmall in itfelf, appear- ed ftill fmaller at a time when fo many abufes were to be reformed, and it was fo ne&flTary to enter immediately on the bufinefs ; when a long feries of misfortunes had diffufed a new light through the whole kingdom, and had fixed the reign of public opinion on a foun- dation which could never be destroyed. It was a great overfight in the two firft or- ders not to have difcovered in time, that a National Affembly formed nearly on the mo- del of the Englifh one, was the utmoft they could hope to obtain -when the minds of men were in a ferment and the party of the com- mons increafed daily in ftrength. This form of government, which they would not liften to for a moment when it was firft propofed, they ha,ve fince perhaps regretted they did not patronife. It is feldom that large bodies of men adr, with forefight ; the common feel- ings that influence them fpring from the me- mory ; and they can never feel the force of thofe numerous perceptions which are indif- penfably 224 Administration of penfably neceffary in calculating the future* The king himfelf had a diflike for the Englifti conflitution and every thing that refembled it ; doubtlefs becaufe he found it too wide from the ideas and principles to which he had been habituated. But times are ftrangely altered ! The king however, in directing his atten- tion to the future conformation of the States General, would have fpoken for the firft time to the National Affembly of two chambers, if he had adopted the plan which I fubmitted to his examination in the month of June* The events of the month of July having pro- duced a considerable change in the fituation of affairs, I might have refumed the idea on my return from Bale, and I fpoke of it in converfation with various deputies : but at this period the commons thought only how to derive advantage from the new face of things, and they were no longer fatisfied with political meafures which at any preceding time they would have accepted with eagernefs. It may be doubted whether, in fixing a per- manent conflitution, they did right to prefer a legiflative body confiding of a fingle affem- bly ; it may be doubted whether they were right Mr. Necker, $25 right in fpeakirtg of Englifh liberty with fuch difdain, a liberty that has the judgment of all Europe in its favour, and the unanimous Voice of a whole nation, happy and profperous under a conftitution to which the experi- ence of a century has made them every day more attached. Thefe were confiderations that merited, in my opinion, a clofer exami- nation ; and the fecurity of freedom was their beft recommendation, fince, to judge from events, the rapidity of legiflative determina- tions may otherwife prove dangerous to free- dom itfelf. A memorable circumftance feems to give additional force to this reflection. It is the adoption of two houfes or divifions by the American nation, a nation that has founded its liberty far from the tumult of Europe, and by reading, like ourfelves, the hiftory of the world and the annals of the human heart. In the mean time, how much more dangerous is it in a country like France, that the whole power of legiflation mould veft in a fingle houfe and depend on a fingle vote ; a country where the ficklenefs of the national character renders caution fo neceflary in the legiflator ; a country infinitely populous, and where all CL the 226 Administration of the inhabitants, allied to each other by a com- mon feeling, can be actuated by one and the fame impulfe ; a country where the unavoid- able mixture of enormous luxury and the ex- tremeft poverty, will ever keep alive the defire of a change of fituation ; a country that is not, like America, devoted folely to agricul- ture, but where a confiderable portion of the inhabitants, employed in manufactures and the fervice of the rich, are found in crowds in the midft of our corrupt cities ; a country where morality and a religious fpirit are on the decline, and no longer afford an adequate barrier to the wild fallies of the paf- iions ; a country, in fhort, where an habitual intercourfe with other nations can the more readily produce events favourable to revo- lutions ! Such a country requires a legiflative body whofe fteps are regular and circumfpect, and that never deceives itfelf ; that takes care to be always refpected, and of confequence always obeyed. It requires it the more, be- caufe the loweft clafs of the people have been called into action, and we have given them opinions without being able to give them knowledge. For this reafon we are obliged to prefent to- them always the fame idea, the n fame Mr. Necker. 227 fame profpect, and "we are no longer at liberty to make the changes which wifdom dictates, and circumftances frequently render neceflary. A fingle chamber will, I fear, fupply perpe- tual fuel to difcontent and fedition. A hope will be entertained of being able to influence its deliberations, of being able to direct them, and, which is ftill more dangerous, of being able to alter them. One fource of ftrength and power will only be feen ; and every movement, every exertion will have that for its central point. Could we penetrate into the fecrets of the human heart, we mould fee that the attachment to a fingle chamber is chiefly derived from a defire of fharing in the autho- rity that will furround it, an authority irre- gular, divided in every fenfe of that word, and the enjoyment of which is miftaken for the charm of liberty. What is to be feared how- ever above all things in political focieties, is the continual exercife of an unjuft oppofition that has no fixed and definite bounds. Every fpecies of check however in the political machine tends to render its motions more flow and circumfpect ; and who will cecono- mife time when a nation is at ftake ? The means of doing good once fecured, we Q^2 have 22% Administration of have only to guard againft diforder, the great enemy of conftitutions, which levels its artil- lery at their foundations, and fhakes the whole fabric. It is manifeftly of the utmoft importance at the sera of a great revolution, when the depu- ties are called upon to reform the whole code of laws, political, civil, and criminal, and the talk they have to execute is in the utmoft degree arduous, that they mould aim as much as poflible at unanimity in their thoughts and deliberations : but this cannot be when the whole legi flative power vefts for a continuance in one chamber. A great averfion was early difplayed for every improvement derived from the govern- ments of other nations ; and it is too apparent that the fear of imitation has constantly influ- enced the minds of the National Aflembly, and that they have carried their paflion for no- velty to a degree of weaknefs. This paffion however is frequently a very dangerous fenti- ment in fo old a world, and when applied to ob- jects of fo ancient a date as morality, legifla- tion and policy. We fhould with difficulty pardon the ar- chitect of a theatre of amufement if, from a defire Mr. Nec kek, 229 defire of differing from other artifts, he mould fubjecl: us to inconvenience : and how much lefs pardonable is it in the architects of a po- litical fociety, when, from a fimilar diflike of imitation, they deprive us of the advantages to be derived from fuch principles of govern- ment as are beft known and have been moft fully tried ! The power lodged with the king of refufing his fandlion to legiflative decrees, is doubtlefs a provifion of a falutary tendency ; but it is neceffary that the ufe of it Ihould be wholly unreftricted it is neceffary that minifters ihould not be obliged to fhew an unreferved deference to every idea of the National Affem- bly ; that their exiftence fhould not depend on this deference ; that popular commotions fhould be reftrained, and no terrors be fuf- pended over the throne : laflly, it is neceffary that the royal negative, a mode of refinance equally wife and moderate, fhould not be a power never to be called into ufe. To fecure to this power the affiftance of opinion, it is alfo neceffary that the king fhould choofe for his council men of the moft enlightened minds, who poffefs the greatefl fhare of the national confidence, and, if it be poffible, whofe fitu- Q^3 atioa 230 Administration of ation and characters are moft independent. I know of no other means calculated to remedy a part of the evils infeparable from a legiflative aflembly when formed into one deliberative body. The good of the ftate alfo requires, on vari- ous accounts, that the royal fan&ion mould be free, and confidered as fuch, not by means of a fiction, not by any counterfeit belief, but by the inimitable afcendancy of truth. It is thus only the dignity of the monarch can be pre- served, and that he will never be reduced to the degrading fituation of being obliged to execute what he does not approve. It is then the nation will believe in the real aflbciation of the will of the prince with that of the Na- tional Aflembly, and that the operation of the executive power will fuddenly become more eafy, more gentle and more efficacious. I purfue the train of my thoughts. The conflitution of the National Aflembly into a fingle chamber, by which fo many powers are concentred in one point, feems to be a new motive for inducing them to give additional fplendor to the majefty of the throne ; not only in order to maintain a fort of equilibrium in the ftate, but alfo becaufe the king, ftanding; alone Mr. Necker. 231 alone in contrail with the afTembly, would find himfelf in fo detached a fituation as muft gradually weaken the executive power that was vefted in him. The afTembly however, far from purfuing the path which thefe reflec- tions point out, have flapped the chief of the empire of all the attributes which tended to fupport the idea of his elevated ftation, and have at the fame time deprived him of every thing which conftitutes moral dominion, the only dominion that invariably commands re- fpecl: and captivates obedience. They have left the king no influence either in ecclefiaftical preferments, or in the choice of judges, or magiftrates of the police, or municipal officers, or governors of the departments and diftri&s, or commanders of the national guard, or the new fuperintendants of public order, a train band that is to fupply the place of the Mare* chauflee ; in fhort,all army and navy promo- tions are fubjected to almoft invariable rules ; and, as if it were too great an indulgence to have reftored to the king the power of finan- cial appointments, they have obliged him to ac- cept new directors of the pofts from the far- mers general at prefent in office ; and this mi- nute reftriction has been fixed by a legiflative Q^ 4 decree. 232 Administration of decree. It is certainly poflible that nomina- tions to offices mi^ht in general be equally jur dicious, were all influence on the part of go- vernment fuperfeded : but a king who has m> thing to confer, is obeyed merely by courtefy. This is not all : they have not left the mo- narch the right of bellowing the leaft encou- ragement, the fmalleft gratuity, without the preliminary confent of the National Aflembly; and the reporter of the committee of penfions, who, under the infpection of the AlTembly, which muft neceflarily be rapid, has at this moment the regulation of the whole lift, has more of the neceflary requifites to be king of France than the defcendant of Hugh Capet. As the laft extinction of every fpecies of in- fluence on the part of the chief of the nation, and as the laft privation, a privation the moft painful perhaps of all to the king's feelings, the National AlTembly Jias referved to itfelf alone the diftribution of fuch reliefs as tempo- rary calamities or the misfortunes of indivi- duals fo often render neceflary. The king can no longer be charitable and companionate but as a private individual ; he is no longer permitted to have any fhare in great public virtues; he muft tear himfelf from all his habits, Mr. Nec ke it. 233 habits, and renounce the fweeteft enjoyments that are annexed to authority: he is ftill allowed to fix how many armed men are neceffary for fupporting the execution of vengeance and inflicting punifhments ; but charities are regu- lated and diftributed without his participation, or at leaft without any other concurrence on his part than that of a formal fanftion. They are befide the various committees of the af- fembly who prepare, draw up, and decide every thing, and in their hands is the whole administration ; for legiflation applied to all forts of details, is government itfelf. There remains with the king the choice of his minir iters ; but this choice is precarious, fince it de- pends on the difpofition of the clubs and coffee- houfes of Paris, and particularly on the will of thofe who influence this difpofition. In the midir. even of his council the monarch has no decifive power, fince all the chiefs of the de- partments may refufe to obey his will, alleging as an excufe for their refiftance the fevere re- fponfibility that is impofed on them. In fhort, in the very city where he refides, in the palace which he inhabits, he is without authority ; his fafety depends on the orders that are given by the municipal officers ; he has no influ- ence 234 Administration of ence in any regulations, any precautions of police ; and defcending by degrees to the laft ftep of power, if he were to afk for a puppet- fhow to amufe the dauphin, he would want the protection of the mayor of Paris. No kingdom ever prefented fo complete a picture of the total annihilation of royal authority. The king of France, r of the French, is nothing more than a fecretary of the commands of the National Aflembly, and an official ferjeant of its will ; and it is a cruel mockery to boaft, as is daily done, of the exal- tation of his glory and the additional luftre of his throne. The government of a country peopled with twenty-fix millions of fouls, and extending over twenty-five thoufand fquare leagues, be- fide important colonies, is at prefent com- pofed of fo many fprings that the lead popular effort can break or impair them. This mull at leaft be confeffed, even if we choofe to re- ferve to ourfelves the right of contefting that it is the beft government poflible ; even if we choofe to contend, though experience has not a word to fay in its favour, that, for the main- tenance of order, there is need neither of a centre to fo many parts, nor of a high executive power, Mr. Necker, 2,$$ power, nor of the afliftance of royal majefty, that venerable majefty which at once fubjugates and gives a charm to obedience j that majefty, which, exhibiting the national grandeur in its purity, and collecting its rays within a narrow circle, obtains a diftinguifhed empire over the imaginations of men. It is different with po- litical corps ; they can indeed maintain the au- thority that appertains to legiflative functions, becaufe thefe functions have fomething abftract . about them which familiarity does not render contemptible. But when they defire to af- fume an active character, and to addrefs them- felves immediately to individuals, it is then evident that they are deficient in weight ; and this deficiency is afcribable in the firft place to the abfolute parity between thofe who com- mand and thofe who are to obey ; and in the fecond not unfrequently to the difcordancy of the elements of which a numerous afTembly is compofed. The National AfTembly feems to have a confcioufnefs of this truth ; for if we obferve attentively what news is moft gratifying and affords it the greateft pleafure, we mail find it almoft always to be the information of fome new inftance of obedience or promife of fub- mifiion. 2$6 Administration of minion. Humility is above all things pleafing to it ; and there is nothing which it will not forget, there is no offence which it will not pardon on fuch an atonement. I hefitate not in faying that the political hierarchy* eftablifhed by the National Affem- bly, fcems to require more than any other focial inftitution, the efficacious interpofition of the monarch. This auguft mediation per- . haps can alone preferve the diftances between fuch a multiplicity of powers crowding upon one another, between fo many reprefentatives whofe titles are equal, and official characters originally equal, and ftili fo near to each other by the nature of their functions and the fuga- city of their prerogatives ; it can alone give reality to thofe abftract and conventional gra- dations, which are from henceforth to compofe thefcale of government. I perceive at prefent i Primary affemblies who name an electoral corps ; This electoral corps who choofes deputies to the National Aflembly ; * In ufing the word hierarchy I take a licence which cuf- tom has lately authortfed, as from its etymology it is only applicable to eccleliaftical government. This This aflfembly who makes decrees and calls upon the king to fanction and promulgate them; The king who fends them to the depart* ments ; The departments who tranfmit them to the diftri&s ; The diftricts who give orders to the mu- nicipalities ; The municipalities who, in executing thefe decrees, require in cafes of emergency the af- fiftance of the national guards ; The national guards who ought to keep the people in awe ; The people who ought to obey. We fee in this fucceffion an order of num- bers to which there is nothing to object : one, two, three, four, five, fix, feven, eight, nine, ten ; they all follow one another, they are all linked together in perfection : but in government and obedience the general order is maintained by ties that connect and fallen together different authorities. The legiflator would have too eafy a tafk, if, in order to accompiifh that great work, the fubjection of the many to the wifdom of the few, he had only to conjugate the verb to command, and to 23% Administration of to fay as we do at fchool, I fhall command, thou fhalt command, he fhall command, we fhall command, &c. To eftablifh an effective fubordination, and fecure the play of all the afcending and defcending fprings, it is abfo- lutely neceffary that there fhould be a propor- tional gradation of deference and refpect be- tween all fuperiorities by compact ; it is neceffary that from rank to rank there mould be a diftin&ion which excites veneration ; and it is neceifary that at the fummit of this gradation there fhould be a power which, by a mixture of imagination and reality, acts on the whole of the political hierarchy, and main- tains every thing in the order fixed by the le- giflator : but to weaken this firft power, to adulterate its majefty, and to level at the fame time all ranks of men, fo completely that the abftract principle of law may receive no af- fiftance from prejudice, is to put fubordina- tion in great danger ; it is at leaft to leave it no other fupport than the fear of punifhment and the exercife of vengeance, which are not merely inadequate, but will furround admini- ftration with all the apparatus of tyranny. There is no country where the diftinction* of rank are more obliterated than under the defpotic Mr. Necker, 239 defpotic government of the Califs of the eaft ; but there is alfo no country where punifh- ments are more inftantaneous, more fevere, or more multiplied. The chief magiftrates have a decoration that is fufficient for every thing ; and this is a retinue of janizaries, mutes, and executioners. It is remarkable alfo that in the French Ie- giflation there will not only be an equality from the mode of election proceeding entirely from the people, an equality from the mix- ture of all conditions, an equality from the fuppreffion of all diftinctions of birth, an equality from an indifference as to every fu- periority of fortune and education ; but there will be alfo, in the conftitution of the different authorities, this lingular inconfiftency, that the mod extenfive in their fphere of action will be the weakeft in their power of enforc- ing obedience. I fhall explain myfelf. The adminiftrators of the department, in defending the rights or opinions of their conftituents, will have a very considerable power of oppos- ing the deciflons of the National AfTembly ; but they will have very little power over the adminiftrators of the diftricts, who will fpeak in the name of perfons immediately interefted, in 240 Administration of in the mid ft of whom they refide, and whd will be united by the fympathy of opinion. The fame obfervation is more ftrikingly applicable to all the Orders which the diftricts will have to give to the municipalities of the chief towns ; for thefe municipalities are com- pofed of men equal to the adminiftrators of diftricls, and frequently fuperior to them in knowledge, education and fortune : prompted therefore by felf-love, which is the ordinary effect of thefe advantages, they will not be eafily directed by their equals the diftricts; they will be able to oppofe them whenever they pleafe, their ideas being more enlighten- ed, more founded on the particular circum- flances of the town whofe intereft they fuper- intended ; and, fupported by the approbation of their fellow citizens, they will foon arrive at the confeioufnefs of their power. In fine thefe municipal officers whofe functions continue only for two years, and who have not time enough to derive con- fideration from the importance of their duties ; thefe temporary magiftrates, whofe principal object it will be to fecure their re-election, and the fphere of whofe authority relates to their own electors, electors with arm9 in their hands, Mr. Necker. 241 hands, and decorated with the appellation of National Guards, cannot reafonably be ex- pected to maintain a fufficient reverence and decorum, with no other means for that pur- pofe than a gold button or a fcarf. I can more readily conceive of the fubordination in the lower order, that is, the fubordination of the people to the national guards ; although even this is not free from difficulty : confident in their numbers it may be that they will not at- tend very accurately to the fubtle diftinction of active and non-active citizens ; it may be that they will fufpec~t that the fyftem of equality ought to be lefs rigid in its limits, and may prove fufficiently unmanageable in circum- ftances where their interefts excite them to refiftance. There are various expedients fimple in themfelves, and by no means inconfiftent with the principles of the conftitution, which the National AfTembly might in my opinion have introduced in aid of the maintenance of fubordination. It would have been eafy for example to have given to the ele&ion of the adminiftrators of the department a priority over the election of the adminiftrators of the diftricts, and to R this 4-2 Administration or this election a priority over that of the officers of the municipalities : thus the choice would have been unfettered by ftriking off this and that name to be employed in inferior fervices, and the beft citizens would have been referved for the higheft fituations. It would have been eafy to eftablifh a great- er difference in the number of perfons con- ftituting the different corps; to have aug- mented the adminiftrators of departments and diftri&s ; or to have diminifhed the municipal officers and the Notables of the great towns. It would have been eafy to have fortified the afcendancy of the higher corps over the lower by eftabliftiing a greater difference be- tween the duration of the functions of the in- dividuals compofing them. Laftly, it would have been eafy to have extended the period neceffary to elapfe be- tween a man's rilling an office in the fuperior administrations for the firft and fecond time, and thus the more confiderable corps would have been lefs fubjected than the reft to the neccffity of careffing the multitude. Thefe four provifions, the quality, the number, the duration, and the independence of the adminiftrators, would have fomewhat favour- ed Mr. Necker, 243 ed the maintenance of authority and fubor- dination. I will add, for the defire of the public good and a veneration for truth will always be my moft powerful motives, that national guards perpetually in arms, and empowered to choofe their own officers and commandants* will be the kings of our kings. I do not controvert the eminent fervices that many of thefe re*- fpedtable corps, and that of Paris above all, have rendered in thefe times of difcord ; but I muft believe that the maintenance of a force like this at the laft round of the political lad- der, will with difficulty be reconciled to the general principles of order and fubordination. Finally, when the National AfTembly has beftowed upon the king no higher appella- tion than that of chief minifter of the ftate and head of the executive power, they have thrown an impenetrable darknefs upon the degree of his legal authority over the admini- ftrative corps, and they have as little afcertain- ed by what means they defign that the king fhould enforce obedience to his commands. That of an armed force does not exift, fince it is only to be called into exercife by the ad- miniftrators of departments, of the diftridis, R 2 er 244 Administration op or of the municipalities. That of promifes and threats is equally null in the hands of the monarch, fince he has not the power of doing either good or harm to any perfon. The right of fufpending the difobedient corps, is not granted to the executive power, and it would be attended with inconvenience in a conftitution where all the adminiftrators are elected by the people without any inter- pofition on the part of the fovereign. Shall he order the civil tribunal to take cognizance of the adminiftrative corps that are refractory ? But by what means (hall he oblige thefe tribu- nals to be obedient to his orders ? Befide, the conftitution does not give them this kind of fuperiority over the adminiftrative corps, and even if they poflefled it, would five or fix judges appointed by the people dare to arraign the conduct of an adminiftration whofe re- fiftance feemed perfectly to chime in with the intereft of their electors ? Laftly, fhall it be to the examination of the high court of juftice that thefe crimes fhall be referred ? But it is the legiflative body alone that can bring accufations before this court. The king then has no choice left but the power of prefent- ing his charges to the National Aflembly. What Mr. Ne e ke r. 245 What a function ! And fhould it happen, as we have reafon to fuppofe, that this afTembly is not always fitting, the king will be reduced to the neceflity of making notes during the vacations, that he may be able to prefent a ftatement of his grievances when the legis- lative corps fhall again aflemble. Such an obligation on the part of the monarch, is the mod degrading, the moft incompatible with dignity, that it is poffible to conceive. An ac- cufer for fix months, a fpy for the remaining fix, he will only be called off from thefe two honourable functions by the execution of the judgments of which the National AfTembly will deliver him the mandate. I could have wifhed to difcover the moment when it would be poffible for him to do fomething in order to make himfelf loved ; but I cannot find it. It will be neceflary, if I may fo exprefs my- felf, that he fhould live on his old flock of liberalities, as all future harvefts are interdicted him for ever : and thus, while the means of refiftance are multiplied in various ways, and this refiflance proceeds flep by ftep in an in* creafing ratio, it feems to be the intention to diminifh the authority of the chief of the nation, to humble, to tarnifh, in ftiort, the R 3 majefty 246 Administration of majefty of the throne ; and I look in vain through the whole circle for that wifdom and extent of view which ought to characterize le- giflators*. I am This paragraph was written, and my whole work fi- flifhed, before I learned thelaft decree of the National Af- fembly refpedling the adminiftrative corps. They have given to the king by this decree the^power of fufpending the functions of an aflembly of department who {hall be guilty of actual difobedience ; but at the fame time this aflembly is authorifed to make known to the legiflature the orders that may have been tranfmitted to them in the king's name, and which they may have fuppofed to be contrary to the laws. Thus, upon the mere opinion of an aflembly of department, an immediate and open difpute before the legiflature will take place, between the refponfible minifter, fpeaking in the name of the king, and tne aflembly of department j and the minifter perhaps will be fummoned to the bar to juftify the motives of his conduct and plead his caufe againft one or a number of members chofen by the aflembly of department. Can we ferioufly imagine, unlefs where the delinquency of the adminiftrators fhould be incontrovertible, that the mi- nifter would be defirous of expofing himfelf to a fcene like this, and of rifking at the fame time the dignity of the fo vereign ? This is not all. The minifter may perhaps be difpofed to run the hazard of fufpending from their functions an af- fembly of adminiftrators; but as the movement of the whole interior machine depends upon them, he muft firft be fare of the difpofition of the other members of the depart- ment who are to fupply the place of thefe adminiftrators ; an4 Mr. Necker. 247 I am well aware of the various confidera- tions that were calculated to turn off their at- tention and if they are difinclined, he muft make the fame enquiry among the perfons who form the neighbouring diftricts : but who will care to accept this momentary office on the recommendation of a minifter from whom they can expert nothing, and on the perilous fecurity of a fingle pleader at the bar of the National Aflembly ? It is a civility that he could fcarcely expect from his own clerks. I may afk alfo how the minifter will arrive at the exal knowledge of the abufes of power and neglect of duty re- prehenfible in the adminiftrators, fince in each depart- ment thefe very men will be his only regular correfpon- dents ? The committee of Conftitution has in its new de- cree done all that it could do from ancient documents ; but in their attempts to erect a new authority every thing ne- ceflarily retains fomewhat of the defective foundations on which they are obliged to build. We may fearch as long as we pleafe, but there are only three ways of fecuring fuch an authority : the conftant and well known power of re- warding and punifliing on the part of thofe who command, and the ideas of fear and hope which they may make ufe of without impofition ; or the conftant habit of refpect to- wards them fupported by the fplendour of their fituations, and efpecially by the veneration due to the majefty of the fovereign, of whom they are the organs ; or peremptory coercion, by means of an armed force. Of all thefe government has been deprived, and it is only in the form of accufation before the legiflative corps, that it can act with any efficacy. In the mean time, by a fingular contradiction, minifters K 4 placed 24$ Administration of tention from regards of a general nature ; but did it become the founders of a political con- flitution to appear the Haves of the moment ? Future ages ought to have engage^ their thoughts, and while they aboliflied all other dominion that of pofterity ought never to have been forgotten. England is always cited as an example that placed in this ftate of weaknefs, are not lefs conftantly threatened with the moft fevere refponfibility. It is from politenefs, no doubt, that, after having tied their hands and feet, we tell them of the tricks they can play, and that we appear to be alarmed at it. Let us honeftly confefs, that it is not about what they will dp, but what they dare not do, that we give ourfelves any trouble ; for their weaknefs is much more to be feared than their courage. A refponfibility that mail operate as a check upon the actions of minifters is doubtlefs of confequence ; but a refponfibility that fhall be a check upon their inactivity, is neceflary to the maintenance of focial order. The legiflator ought to place himfelf as it were in the center between thefe two points of view, and never to de- prive himfelf of the power of moving toward either. But he is foon entangled in fnares that himfelf has fpread, and can no longer (hike off fo much from the code of univerfal li- berty as is due to the principles of order and fubordination. One would fqppofe that he had compofed his work on his return from Algiers or Morocco j and that, filled with ideas of flavery, his mind had not perceived the moment when he arrived in the land ofliberty. a civil Mr. Necker. 249 a civil officer can fucceed, without the means of conftraint, in making himielf obeyed ; but they wifh not to fee that in England this refpect for the law is the refult of publie happinefs, and the effect of long habit ; and that it is alfo the fruit of religion and morality, which are principles ftill highly refpedted by a nation that does not exclude good fenfe from its philofophy. They forget alfo to obferve how many circumflances embellifh the law in England and give it ad- ditional force ; circumflances that do not exift in the French conftitution. Its reprefen- tatives in parliament commonly hold their feats for feven years, a term that adds greatly to their confequence. The legiflative aflembiy is divided into two houfes, one of which con- fifts of the peers of the realm, men diftin- guifhed for the extent of their poffeffions, and their exalted rank ; the other is compofed of citizens whofe education and attachment to the interefts of the flate are fecured by the confiderable property that is required to qua- lify them for being elected. The king's mi- nifters are all members of parliament. Some, in right of birth, have feats in the upper houfe; others, in right of election, are reprefentatives of the people. The lung enjoys the executive power 250 Administration of power in all its plenitude, and he is aided in the exercife of this power by the various ap- pointments that are a part of his prerogative and the many favours of which he has the dif- pofal. The bifhops, the judges, the county fheriffs, and all perfons more particularly con- cerned in the maintenance of public order, are chofen by the fovereign ; in a word every truft of a fimilar nature, thofe excepted that relate to the police and interefls of cities and other large towns, are never entrufted to col- lective aflemblies. Befide, none of thofe nu- merous hoftilities, oppofed in France to the executive power, none of thofe diminutions of the majefty of the throne, the inevitable ef-r feci: of our new laws, have in England any exiftence. There the people are not kept in continual action by that diverfity of elections which are affigned to them among us, and which every inftant remind them of their power. The enormities alfo, which extreme wretchcdnefs induces the lowed order of fo- ciety to commit, are in a manner remedied in England by the immenfe relief of its poor rates; and the moft dangerous characters are re- moved from the midft of fociety by the tranf- portation of malefactors to the colonies. Laftly, the Mr. Necker. 251 the king of England pofTeffes the great and im- portant privilege of diflblving the parliament, and ordering new elections. There is then no comparifon between the means which the two governments can make ufe of for the maintenance of public order, without violence, or having recourfe to any unufual expedient ; and yet France is four times more populous than England and Scotland taken together. Let us confefs the truth : Our legiflators have preferved only the mummy of executive power ; whatever conftituted its life and ac- tion exifts no longer. Meanwhile we cannot bring this power to life again at our will ; for obedience and refpect depend in a great mea- fure on long habit; and it would be an immenfe lofs, a misfortune beyond calculation, to be obliged to create thefe fentiments anew by the infliction of punifhments, and to begin with the operation of fear and terror. With how many troubles would not fuch an enterprize be accompanied ! It would have one ftriking character of greatnefs, it muft be confeffed ; for, like the creation of the world, it would rife out of chaos. In reply to thefe different obfervations, no one I think will maintain, that order reigns at 6 prefent 252 Administration of prefent in the kingdom, and will aflert with confidence that time and peace will effectually euablilh it. But in the firft place, how can it be faid that order exifts, if the moll fhameful excefles are committed fometimes in one place and fometimes in another ; if alarms prevail to fuch a degree as to drive a great number of citizens from their ordinary habitations and even out of the kingdom ; if foreigners are dif- couraged from coming among us ; if it be regarded as an enterprize to pafs through the country ; if the collection of the taxes has been fubjeded forfome time pad to every fpecies of oppofition ; if fuch feudal rights as remain are obtained but in part, and legal modes of re- drefs are attended with danger ; if the de- partments and municipalities clam with one another ; if the intermediary corps fometimes exceed their powers, and fometimes dare not cxercife them to their full extent ; and if the diipofition of the people has an influence on the legiflation itfelf ? In fhort how can we believe in the exiftence of this order, when we fee an armed force fo often reforted to? Yet we know but a fmall part of the derangement of the fprings ; the inventors of the machine are filent respecting every accident that is not of a confpi- Mr. Necker. 53 confpicuous nature, as they do not wifh the imperfe&ion of their work to be difcovered ; and, in the prefent impotency of the execu- tive government, individuals are at a lofs to know before what court they are to exhibit their complaints againft the delinquency of administrators. Government can only re- commend ; it has no longer the means of rewarding or punifhing ; and in its promifes or threats there would be an air of ridicule. I have alfo my fears that a fingular effecl: will arife from the political regulation efta- blifhed in the kingdom : it will perhaps be one day feen, and there are fymptoms that already announce it, that this regulation, inadequate to the fupport of public order, is at the fame time calculated to favour the defpotifm of the intermediary corps ; for thefe corps will readily perceive, that the National Affembly, the only cenfor they have to dread, cannot, from the nature of its conftitution and its numerous occupations, extend its infpec- tion to the minutenefs of detail ; they will perceive alfo that the afTembly will have great reafon to keep well with them ; and thefe two confiderations will gradually make them lefs fcrupulous in their proceedings; they 154 Administration of they will pofTefs with individuals all the con- fidence refulting from the implied approbation of a fuperior they do not fear, and the appa- rent fecurity of an overfeer whofe attention is diverted by other objects. It would not be an uninterefting employ- ment, to examine whether the defpotifm of the intermediary authorities, and their inca- pacity to maintain public order, two circum- flances which feem to contradict each other, do not arife from the fame caufe, the want of fuperintendence or control on the part of the fovereign power. This would require the folution of another doubt ; and that is, whether the numerous corps governed by other collective authorities, arc the moft per- fect inftitution that can be adopted, and whether it would not be better that the agency fhould be fimple when the firft mover is complex, or the agency be complex when the firft mover is fimple. I return to the fubject of public order ; it is at prefent the fubject mod worthy of atten- tion, and it may not be unprofitable to en- quire if, in the cxifting conftitution, the fu- ture is likely to produce changes favourable or unfavourable to the fpirit of fubordination. To Mr. Necker. 255 To encourage our hopes we are defired to look at the termination- of the political trou- bles that at prefent divide the kingdom ; a confederation, I confefs, of no trivial im- portance : we fee alfo that the oppofidon party, whofe ftrength is infufficient to excite any real alarms, only ferves to unite the fen- timents of the bulk of the nation more clofely. But we fee at the fame time that we are arrived at the period of tranfition from the old order to the new, and that at this moment of fatisfac- tion and confidence the names of patriotifm and liberty operate as a charm on the minds and hearts of all men. We perceive alfo that men are not only become enthufiaftic in their ideas of liberty, but that they juft begin to tafte the fweets of thofe enjoyments which flow from the partition of authority ; and that fuch are the divifions and fubdivifions in this diftribution, that what with perfons electing, perfons elected, and perfons capable of being elected to the adminiftrations of department andtheadminiftrations of diftricts, to municipal offices, commands, offices of deputies, judges, parifh priefts and bilhops, the whole prefents a fpectacle of jubilee to the vanity and felf-. conceit of mankind. Since however every new 256 Administration of new diftribution of authority is thought to be an additional fecurity for freedom, we may perhaps be told that the very gratification of vanity will be converted into a generous fenti- ment, and that this is the confummation of human felicity. But no ; rivalfhips will in- fenfibly fpring up, and rivalfhip engenders difcontent. At firft the equal hopes of in- dividuals are the bond of union, but foon the wounded pretenfions of the difappointed will change into a fource of difcord. It is not yet perceived what will be the fatal confequences of the ambition and the jealoufy which this new order of things will introduce. It was not in the firft year after the death of Alexander, that the men who fhared his empire between them fell into mifunderftanding and war. There is another circumftance of confider- able moment, which, while it engages the at- tention of men in the fame direction, ferves alfo as a principle of union. An object of common intereft engrofles at prefent the minds of the citizens ; I mean the immenfe profpect prefented to them in the fale of the church lands, now become the larfds of the nation. Some men think of them as an object on which to place their fortune advantageoufly, 8 others Mr. Necker. 257 others to fecure themfelves againft the hazard of lofs from the aflignats, and a third fort from the hope of profit from this fpecies of traffic ; add to this, that, when they are fold beyond the price at which they are eftimated, the furplus is diftributed to the municipalities, fo that every one feems haftening to partake of the fpoil, and the diftribution of the parifh bread engrofTes univerfal attention. One word more. It is a matter of public notoriety, that independently of the political hierarchy eftablifhed in the kingdom, inde- pendently of the oftenfible order of things, the authority of the National AfTembly is alfo fuppcrted by a fort of adherence that does not belong to any regular fyftem, which extends from Paris to the provinces, and even to the extremities of the kingdom ; an adherence which is in many cafes perilous, but which neverthelefs tends to preferve fo much of the fcale of fubordinaticn as correfponds to its principles. The different circumftances I have been enumerating have all their degrees of influ- ence, but not one of them is calculated for duration ; and when once their reign is con- cluded, all the events that are likely to arife S will 458 Administration of will produce continual difficulties. Such for inftance will be the period when the whole amount of the new taxes (hall be demanded ; fuch alfo would be a year of famine, a foreign war, or any other calamity out of the ufual courfe. It is to be hoped that the light of experi- ence will gradually introduce fuch modifica- tions and amendments as public order fhall require ; but we are alarmed in the mean time at the multitude of fprings that compofe the machine. How many different links and combinations are there which muft be care- fully and affiduoufly maintained ! We are aftonifhed and affli&ed when we confider the extraordinary means that are em- ployed to fupport the various parts of a fy Mem which do not accord ; they all ferve as a reproach to the continual care that has been taken to diminih the executive power. There is no longer any force at the extremity of the beam ; this will perpetually be a fubject of regret, fince a much greater force will be neceflary at any other point to put in motion the immenfe and coloflal machine of the king- dom of France and her colonies. Oh! that there was at lead an authority fuffi- Mr. KEckEft. 259 fufficient to prevent the violation of the mod facred duties of humanity ; fufficient to place the honour and the lives of men in fafety ; fufficient to protect innocence ; fufficient to put a flop to thofe horrible crimes, of which the town of Aix has juft given a new exam- ple ! We have had enough of them both for our misfortune and our fhame. Yet after fo many inftances, three other victims have been facrificed to the power of the people. In vain do you attempt to divert our feelings, you tribe of unworthy writers who tell us of* thefe affaflinations with fuch an air of levity : vile advocates of the tiger, you are more bar* barous than the tiger himfelf, when you re- count with fo much apathy the ravages he has committed. It was in the afylum of their own houfes that thefe innocent citizens were* fought after ; they were torn from the bofoms of their diffracted families ; they were dragged with infamous chains to the market-place^ and by a refinement of cruelty was their pu- nifhment prepared and this work of iniquity completed. In the morning they had feen the light of day and had rifen from their beds free from apprehenfion, in the evening they expire under the homicide hands of their bre- S 2 threm 260 Administration op thren. They had conceived life to be in the number of their rights, and they find no de- fender. It is at a diflance from the tears of their children, their wives and their friends that they are immolated ; it is without being able to turn upon them a parting look, that they are devoted to the mod horrid facrifice ; no time for repentance is allowed them, all the confolations of religion are denied, and they are plunged into the abyfs of death without any other accompaniment than the guilty fhouts of their executioners. Thefe ideas torture my heart, and I cannot dwell upon them without horror. And who in the mean time w r ere the victims ? An old man eighty years of age, who had long been a magiftrate, who was a celebrated advocate, an old ad- miniftrator of Provence, a man diftinguifhed for his eloquent writings in favour of liberty ; but he could not go all the lengths of the re- volution doctrines, and he had mown, they faid, fome regret when the old magiftracy was demolifhed. Ah ! it is doubtlefs ne- ceffary we mould find crimes in the perfons whom we facrifice.. This was the function of the Feymas and the Laubardemonts, the laft fupportcrs of defpotifm. But wc have no y faith Mr. Necker. 261 faith in your' afTertions, when you tell us of the crimes of thofe who have been put to death without being heard ; we believe you not when, walking over their tomb, you bring accufations againft them which they have no longer the power of anfwering. So long as the people were oppreiTed it was glorious to undertake their defence ; but now that they only are in power, that they are the univerfal fovereign, it becomes us either to quit the court of the tyrant, or to be bold enough to live in it without flattery and without adu- lation. We can no longer diftinguifh the features of that people formerly fo mild and com- panionate ; they are become ravenous for deftrucYion and impatient for revenge ; and what terrifies me ftill more, they join words of merriment to the moll barbarous thoughts, and their fongs, like thofe of the American favages, are the cries of death. Even age and reputation are no reftraint on their vio- lences ; they feek, like the children of Ifrael, victims without fpot, and their murderous hands tremble not at the tears of decrepitude and the blood of innocence. Nation, whom I have fo dearly loved, whom I have fo S 3 highly 262 Administration of highly celebrated, what are you become ? You conceive that patriotifm is an honourable ex* cufe for every thing ; but I underftand and feel as well as you this noble fentiment, and I have always found, that, in its purity, it was more nearly allied than any other to juftice and generofity. And you, Legiflators, who have thrown down without diftindtion both the ancient pillars of focial order and the fafeguards of public fecurity, and who have fubftituted in- Head of them afyflem of your own invention, an organization of your own choice, it is you who ought to fhed tears when the laws with^ out efficacy, and authority without force, are unable to defend juftice and give protection to the man opprefTed. It is you who ought to weep when you fee the people milled, when you fee the fruits of the new education that is given them, when you fee the confe- quences of thofe deteftable publications which are a perpetual reproach to your liberty of the prefs ; for you will one day find that the infant that drew its firft nourifliment from the milk of a wolf is no longer capable of being humanized. It is you alfo who mould put on mourning for every victim that, in the Mr. Necker, 165 the reign of your omnipotence, perifhes un- protected by the law ; a fingle drop of blood which the wife of Macbeth could not efface, prevented her from enjoying the gratifications and fplendid luxuries of the throne. How is it poflible to efcape the moft poignant affliction, in looking at the fad and calamitous fpectacle which France every day exhibits ! the public fquares and private habitations polluted with the blood of victims fhed by a people who are become the fport of every paflion ; the prifons filled by the myfterious decifions of police and inquifition committees ; a nume- rous clafs of citizens reduced to defpair, and flying from the blind fury of fome and the diflrufl of others ; foreigners terrified, and deferting as a favage land a kingdom favoured with the choicefl gifts of nature ; moderate and peaceable citizens anxious only to keep themfelves in retirement and obfcurity ; con- fciences alarmed and fchifm ready to fpring up ; a multitude of artifans who carry their talents into other countries, and a much greater multitude fixed to the place of their birth, who demand from the ftate thofe means of exiftence which the ordinary interchange of wealth and commodities no longer affords S 4 them. 264 Administration of them. Alas ! at the afpect of fo many mif- fortunes, how can we perfuade ourfelves that the political inftitutions of the legiflator are faultlefs ! How can we fuppofe that a liberty of which the monarch laid the foundation, that a benefit received from him, fhould re- quire for its fecurity fo wide a defolation, and fo general a diftrefs ! Let men whofe minds are abftracted, and whofe feelings are callous, look with uncon- cern on all the evils to which they are wit- ncifes, by attending to the more calamitous ftory of every revolution recorded in hiftory ; it is doubtlefs an inexhauftible fource of con- folation. They will find mercilefs calculators, who, after having drawn up a lift of all the crimes that have been committed, after hav- ing computed the number of heads borne in triumph on the points of pikes and lances, and added them together, will demonftrate from the whole, that the prefent revolution is flained with fewer violences and lefs blood than that of any former period. I will not follow them in thefe dreadful comparifons ; but I will afk, whether they have forgotten that an age of light and knowledge differs totally from preceding ages of ignorance; that Mr. Necker. 265 that it is this illumination which has procured us liberty, and that we are the more inexcus- able for remaining barbarous in our manners and fentiments ? I will afk in particular, fup- pofing them to have taken their examples from modern hiftory, where is that Philip whofe fanguinary reign excited againft him univerfal difguft ? Where is the Duke of Alva, the minifter of his tyrannical will, who was de- firous of f ubje&ing the Flemings to the horrors of the inquifition, and who, with the molt imperious feverity, made them feel all the bonds of fervitude, and all the difgraces of fla- very ? I will farther afk w T here is now that Albert of Auftria, whofe ambitious mind and ferocious character had made Switzerland de- folate, and who, wifhing to bring the proud inhabitants of this country of agriculture un- der a new yoke, led them to defpair by the moft refined inventions of his remorfelefs cruelty? Yes, I will afk thefe calculators, where the tyrant is now to be found whofe enormities can be an excufe for feverities of any kind ? I look for fuch a character, and I fee only a prince who is an affecting example of the moft confummate goodnefs ; a prince whofe pure manners and retired life are a model i66 Administration of model for the conduct of a private individual ; a prince who always refilled violent counfels, and feemed cordially to afTent to no projects but fuch as were diftinguifhed for beneficence. I fee a prince taught by experience how infuf- ficient is his own power, or that of any fingle man, to promote equally to his wifhes the happinefs of his people. Convinced of tjiis truth, I fee him calling to his aid the repre- fentatives of the nation ; I fee him robbing himfelf of a part of his authority, that he may with his paternal hands lay the foundation of the edifice of liberty ; and the day of the opening of the States General, I fee him on his throne in the inidft of the deputies of the nation, adopting no other title, giving him- felf no other appellation than that of the jirji friend of his people. Such was the language of hismajefty, or ra- ther fuch were his virtues, and fuch his bene- fits, the faithful image of thofe virtues. We forget however his gifts, to talk only of con- qucft ; we forget the great things he did in his freedom, that we may keep him in de- pendence ; we proclaim the facrifices to which he confented in the days of his power, to de- mand of him new facrifices in his prefent ftate of Mr. Necker, 267 of imbecility ; in fhort, and this hypocritical policy on the part of an honeft and generous nation is more painful to me than any other circumftance, we know that he lives in conti- nual alarm, that he is alarmed for himfelf, that he is alarmed for a wife whom he loves, and who in her attachment to him has evinced the nobleft courage, and the moft fympathetic intereft in all the events of his life ; we know that fuch is his fituation, and yet we confider his aflent to all the laws which are impofed on him, as the exact reprefentation of his fenti* ments and opinions. What a return forfo much confidence, and fuch various facrifices ! Is then generofity, the faired y of virtues, rejected alfo ; a virtue that beft re- minds us of the former character of the French, and which foreigners expected would be the firft difplayed by the National AfTembly, whom they were difpofed to honour as the image of the nation ? What in like manner are we to think of thofe phrafes fo frequently employed in the aflem- bly when fpeaking of the king " The bene- *' fits of the nation are fhowered upon him in " fufEcient abundance" " He cofts enough" *" He is fufficiently pajd," This language would 268 Administration of would be cruel, unjuft and unbecoming, even if the family of the fovereign had had no di- rect and proper patrimony. It is not the ex- pences necefTarily annexed to the fplendour of the throne, that can be fuppofed to compofe the happinefs of a prince whofe opinions are fober, whofe manners fimple, and whofe de- fires moderate. But the reproach is altoge- ther incomprehenfible, in a cafe in which the annual revenues afligned to the monarch are perhaps barely equivalent to the revenue of his own eftate. We are told indeed that, by the laws of the ftate, fovereigns have nothing peculiarly their own, their domains being fully and irrevocably, united to the crown. But I cannot find that any one has made the mod important deduction from fuch a principle. What was the intention of this legiflative de- termination ? To hinder the monarch from being diftracled by oppofite interefts ; to hin- der him from employing the prerogatives he pofTcfTed, for the purpofe of increafing his pri- vate fortune at the expence of the public. At a time then when the conflitution is changed, when the public revenues are no longer in- trufled to the fovereign, it would be fubver- iive of every principle of juftice to argue upon the Mr. Necker, 269 the poftulata of an exploded fyftem ; or at lcaft it would be neceflary to fuppofe that a prince deftined to the government of an em- pire is obliged, like a farmer-general, to ad- vance a certain fum as a fecurity for the truft repoled in him. But upon that fuppofition he ought not to be placed in a condition worfe than the farmer, by making the fum he has advanced the irredeemable and irrevocable pro- perty of the nation. Thefe reafonings appear to me unanfwera- ble, and the more fo as, if you fum up the original property of the prefent royal family, and the property they have acquired by mar- riages and inheritance, if you take into the ac- count thofe parts of their domain which have been furrendered in lieu of the produce of cer- tain taxes, or granted not fo much from the liberality of the king, as in recompenfe offer- vices done to the ftate, you will find perhaps that the claims of the prince upon the throne do not fall fhort of the amount of the civil lift. The king however has never alleged thefe perfonal demands. In public he has ap- peared the monarch, and it is in the forrows of the heart only that he has been a private man. Thofe forrows are unqueftionably great ; and 2jo Administration of and if at any time they ceafe to be prefent to his recollection, it is only fo far as he is called off from his habitual afflictions by calamities of a deeper dye, by fcenes of iniquity and hor- ror, and the deliberate murder of citizens of the ftate ; it is when he learns thofe detefted violences which have fixed an indelible blot upon the national character -, it is when he hears that a people, formerly companionate and kind, have been converted into an inftru- ment of vengeance and alarm. I mud explain myfelf with franknefs, it is a part of my character, and a fentiment which I cannot difpenfe with. I am aware that it is an unpardonable offence, to cenfure in the flighteft degree the declaration of rights, a work that has coft fo much pains and ftudy : hut 1 was ever apprehenfive that it would mif- lead the minds of the people, and this was one of the reafons which influenced the opi- nion of the king and his council when the declaration was prefented for his majefty's ac- ceptance. I fhall quote his words ; they are to be found at the conclufion of his reply to the Affembly, on their decree relative to the fundamental laws of the confutation. u I (hall not give my fentiments at large " refpect- Mr. Necker. 271 <l refpecting your declaration of the rights of " man and a citizen. It contains fome very " excellent maxims, proper to guide you in c your deliberations : but principles vague in " their application, and fufceptible of various *' interpretations, cannot eafily be appreciated, " nor is it neceffary till their fenfe be ac- " curately fixed by the laws to which they " are to ferve as the bafts." The AiTembly were refolved to obtain the king's aflent to this declaration, and they fent their prefident a fecond time for this purpofe on the evening of the 5th of O&ober. The Parifian troops were at this moment at the gates of Verfailles, and the courts and avenues of the palace were filled by a crowd of people that had arrived before them. It was necef- fary to comply ; but poiterity will never for- get the period that was chofen for confecrating. the theory of the rights of man, and for laying the corner ftone of the edifice of liberty. The firft axiom in the declaration of rights has been the fource of a multitude of diforders. It is become a proverb with the loweft clafs of fociety ; and a legiflative proverb has greater force than any other. When mifunderftood, 3 there 272 Administration op there is reafon to fear that the people will long be led aftray by it. " Men are born and continue free and equal ** in their rights? Such is the axiom fo highly extolled and capable of fo many interpreta- tions. That men are equal in their rights is an undoubted truth, if we fpeak only of their claim to the protection of the laws, and to all the advantages of fociety which the law T s of property leave to the community. In that cafe we do not go far enough ; fomething more than juftice is requifite towards a nu- merous clafs of citizens, who, having no other means of fubfiftence than their labour, are fre- quently expofed to all the hazards of fo pre- carious a refource. They have a right to the cares of beneficence, and it is incumbent on the legiflators to temper the rigour of the laws of property by fuch regulations as found po- licy and focial virtue mail dictate. But thefe exprcflions, Men are born and continue free and equal in their rights, fimple as they appear, may be differently underftood, and eafily be- come dangerous. In a legiflative creed no- thing mould be fancYioned but principles of complete and undifputed truth, and the maxim in Mr. Necker. 273 In queftion is not of that chara&er. It is no difficult tafk to point out a variety of fenfes in which it will admit of contradiction. It may be faid men are not born free y fince the prefervation of their lives, their acquifition of ftrength and health, and the apprenticeship they ferve to common fenfe, that faculty by which they muft learn to govern themfelves, are all the indifpenfible fruit of their depend- ence. Men do not continue free, fince when they emancipate from the authority of their pa- rents, they pafs under the empire of the laws,\ which were made without their participation, and before they came into being. Men are not born equal in their rights^ fince they come into the world with diftinct: claims, and thefe claims are the degrees of ftrength, of intellect: and capacity with which they are varioufly endowed. Each has his part afligned him, each has his determined fituation in the immenfe fcale of moral and phyfical exigen- cies ; and' it is by a kind of patent fealed with the great feal of nature that he iflues from the ihades of nonentity. Men are no otherwife equal in their rights than as they defire and are capable of happinefs ; but undoubtedly T this 274 Administration of this fource of equality cannot pretend to have much ftrefs laid upon it, as none of our re- formers have ever yet undertaken to defend the rights of brutes, who neverthelefslike our- felves have all of them the defire and capacity of happinefs. It is ftill lefs true that men continue equal in their rights, fince the laws of property are the firft they meet with the moment they are defirous of making ufe of their faculties ; and thefe laws are fo imperious, that we fee fome condemned to perpetual labour, and others living in idlenefs ; fome deprived of all fhare in the agreeable difpenfations of fortune, and others enjoying all its fweets and luxuries. In fine, equality of rights can with difficulty be reconciled with the facred duties of grati- tude ; for thefe duties would no longer exift if the individual rights of the benefactor were net acknowledged. Inequality of duties, like inequality of rights, is the bond of fociety and the habitual condition of human life. It is by them that the necefTary relations are maintained which fubfift between parents and children, between preceptors and pupils, be- tween matters and fervants, between old per- fons and young. This continual fucceffion . of Mr. Neckel 275 of rights and duties conftitutes our moral fyftem. Men are not like animals, whofe life purely fenfual has its intervals of leifure occupied by deep : they have a long fpace to go over in the midft of agitations of mind, in the midft of hopes and fears, and the different profpe&s which the imagination prefents to them. In this fituation they have need of fome fupport, and they are duties and rights which fix their tottering fteps, and guide them in the dubious path. By giving to one ftrength, to another beauty, to a third under- ftanding and genius, nature, as I before ob- ferved, has inverted them from their .birth with different rights and claims, and educa- tion by perfecting thefe advantages has made the original diftinctions ftill more perceptible. The dream of happinefs is certainly not pol- luted by them, and our moft delicious fenfa- tions are probably derived from the rights we acknowledge, or thofe which we refign. In fhort, it is evidently the union of our rights and duties which forms our mutual relations, foftens the afperity and fmooths the rugged- nefs of our characters, and fits us for the enjoy- ments of fociety. This union is perhaps the moft beautiful idea in the moral fyftem, and T 2 it 276 Administration of it reminds us at the fame time of the arrange- ment of the phyfical world, where all is rela tion and there is no equality. The National Aflembly perfuades itfelf, that in all moral and political quefiions it has raifed its conceptions to the higheft pinnacle of abflra&ion. I mould think it no very difficult undertaking to prove that there are yet other regions beyond the columns of this new Her- cules. They think themfelves at the top of the mountain becaufe they are come to the clouds ; but it will fometimes happen that thefe clouds flop ihort by one half of the fumuiit. But I quit thefe reflections, for it is not me- taphyfics that I wifh to difcufs ; and it would be of little importance whether the National AfTembly had committed an error in one of its axioms, if thefe axioms had not been pre- fented to the people in the form of laws, and had not by that means become dangerous. After having declared that men are born and continue equal in their rights, the AfTembly in- forms us in a fubfequent article, that property ought to be included in the number of the natu- ral and imprefcriptible rights of man. The people perfectly underfland the firft axiom, and in- tereft Mr. Necke r. 277 tereft induces them to treafure it in the me- mory ; but will they be equally mindful of the exception or commentary ? Befide, we can eafily prove to them in this age of philofophy, that property is not a natural right, but a right eftablifhed by focicty ; and they will be the lefs difpofed to confider it as an impre- fcriptible right, fince the National AfTembly has in fome inftances invaded it. A lingular contradiction of a different kind has alfo been given by the Aflembly to the abfolute princi- ple of equality of rights ; and that is the dis- tinction it has eftablifhed between active and non-active citizens, and the obligation it has impofed of a certain portion of property in order to be admitted to a participation of the chief political advantages. In the fame article which places property in the rank of natural and imprefcriptible rights, refinance to opprejjion is likewife included. But in the eyes of the poor, true oppreffion proceeds from inequality of wealth : how eafily therefore may they be milled by at- tending to the declaration of rights ! It is alfo extremely dangerous to authorife in a general manner refiftance to oppreffion, as the word oppreffion is lax in its meaning, and by not T 3 being 278 Administration of being defined, every one will think himfelf entitled to judge of the moment when he may rife up againft authority. The laws even may appear to be oppreffive ; and if men once come to regard in that light thofe which de- prive the majority of citizens of their natural equality, their confequent fortune and their independence, to what lengths may not the principle, vaguely confecrated in the declara- tion of rights, lead ! Firft ideas and general principles are doubt- lefs of confiderable value to the legiilator; but they are not calculated for the people till they have been reduced to the precifion of law. They are like thofe rich metals which are ftill in the mines, and which are not brought into circulation till they have been converted by the fovereign into a coin whofe ftandard and weight have been exactly afcer- tained. I ought to prefent another reflection to the metaphyfical philofophy of the National Af- fembly. The farther a principle is from the deductions that may be inferred from it, the more fimple it doubtlefs is to a thinking mind; but as the principle is in this cafe at fo much the greater diftance from the true end to which it Mr. Necker. 279 it mould conduct us, no guide is more likely to miflead men of ordinary capacities, and who are not in the habit of reflection. Such however form the majority of a nation ; they have no time for the improvement of their minds, fince, being deftitute of property and inheritance, they are under the neceflity of devoting the firft moments of their phyfical ftrength to procure themfelves wages, and of labouring all their lives for their fubfiftence. It is not to men of this defcription that ge- neral principles are adapted ; and it is unwife to addrefs to them any maxims that are capa- ble of extenfion or diminution. Laws they mull have, but thofe laws mould be equally clear and positive. It will perhaps be faid that w T e do not now addrefs inftrudtions to the people to teach them how to obey, but how to command. But by what contrariety, when we wifh to place the fceptre of nations in their hands, have we re- courfe to the elements of metaphyfics as their guide ? Befide, in government there is nothing of lefs general utility than a general maxim ; fuch maxims w r ill only furnifh ideas vague and indiflincl, and will not to the mafs of mankind communicate any thing accurate, in- telligible and precife. T 4 The 2So Administration of The legiflators of France bear a ftriking refemblance to the theoretical QEconomifts. Like them they wifh to govern the world by reafonings, and like them they form focieties, in which, from good motives I have no doubt, the people are invited to receive leflbns of national policy. I fhall repeat here what I have frequently faid in my different works, as to the impofTibility that the mafs of this people fhould find fufficient time for inftru&ion. They have not even enough to ftudy morality ; and, but for the rapid afcendancy of religious ideas, their attachment to the obfervance of order would be very inconfiderable. If we are really defirous of making them more enlightened, let us examine whether we can pay them for their leifure from the public treafury, or pre- vail on proprietors to double their wages. Nature gives to every man the faculty of per- fecting himfelf ; but this faculty requires the aid of education ; this education demands time, and the allotment of this time is incom- patible with the obligation of employing the firft moments of ftrength to obtain fubfiflence by labour. All thefe ideas are clofely con- nected : till therefore the laws of property are changed, till we are willing or able to effect: fuch a change, the inftru&ion of the people mull Mr. Necker. 281 muft be proportioned to the immutable con- ditions of their deftiny; and when from time to time we wifh to fix before their eyes a ge- neral principle, the explication and limits of which they are incapable of comprehending, we place them in the fituation of men born blind, from whom we have juft removed a cataract, and who at firft fee mountains reverfed, the bafe where the fummit mould be, and who can alfo form no juft idea of diftance. I know not what prodigies may one day be wrought by our political oculifts ; but let us not in the meafo time totally forget that, according to old ideas, government is the debt of knowledge to ignorance, as beneficence is the debt of wealth to poverty. I will purfue this difcuflion no farther 5 it is fufficient that I have mown by a few obfer- vations that the king had reafonable or at leaft confiderate motives for refufing to admit the declaration of rights as conftitutional laws. I fay nothing refpecting the general plan and defign of the performance; but I have always been of opinion that the edifice of the conftitution merited a more majeftic and ve- nerable portico. I could at leaft have wifhed that aSz Administration of that the Aflembly had taken for their model the American declaration of rights, and had pre- ferred that admirable principle contained in " Article XVIL No people can preferve a u free and happy government, without being u firmly and conftantly attached to the laws of " juftice, moderation, ceconomy, temperance ** and virtue, and without frequently recurring u to thefe fundamental principles." Yes, every thing is comprifed in thefe me- morable words, the duties of the people and thofe of the legillator. This is what he ought to have prefent to his thoughts ; this is what he fhould repeat to us again and again. Jujlice, moderation^ virtue, are indeed the neceiTary principles to render a government free and happy ; and to the neglect of this ufeful and general truth all our regrets and reproaches may be imputed. It ought to have been writ- ten on the walls of the haU in which the de- puties of France met together. It would have ferved as a continual admonition, and a falu- tary lefTon ; and they might at leaft by means of it have properly underftood, juftly inter- preted, and accurately circumfcribed the firft maxim of their declaration of rights. The words equality and liberty are beautiful every where ; Mr. Neckel 283 "where ; and there is no philofopher, no writer who has not employed them with fuccefs: but the juft meafure of the ideas reprefented by thofe words, their exadt application and re* lative fitnefs to the circumftances of a country and the character of its inhabitants, their ac- curate adjuftment to the weakneffes and paf- fions inherent in human nature, and above aft their alliance with the principles of virtue and morality, conftitute the chief difficulty, and when furmounted the moft indelible glory of a legiflator. If we w r ould pufh all our ideas to an extremity, we have only to yield ourfelves to the current ; and in youth this is always the difpofition which the mind originally takes ; but the power of flopping ourfelves in our courfe is the rareft and moft laborious of all attainments, and is the attribute only of ma- ture judgment. Time is in this cafe the fove- reign preceptor, and nothing is neceffary but that we mould refign ourfelves to its guidance. It may infallibly be depended upon to rectify the errors of rafhnefs and inexperience ; but in the mean time woe to the generation that fhall ferve as a fubject upon which for rafhnefs and inexperience to make their abfurd and ill- judged experiment ! 5 it ./ 2S4 Administration of <J It is particularly in their fyftems of equality ' that the National AfTembly have in my opinion gone into extremes. Finding that the ine- qualities of property, that great fource of jea- loufy, could not be attacked, they have applied their levelling inftrumentsto honorary diftinc- tions. Experience will teach us whether thofe familiar abbreviations, M. Conde, M. Conti, M. Capet, thofe new appellations, and quaker forms, confecrated by the mandates of the National AfTembly, will be equally fanc- tioned by the edicts of time. Experience will teach us whether eight or nine hundred years of illuftrious anceftry, the inheritance of the houfe of Montmorenci and many other fa- milies, is to be for ever changed into abftrac- tions, and no longer have any diftin&ive llgn to point it out. Experience will teach us if thefe petty jealoufies, thefe philofophic pueri- lities are to be adopted by pofterity, and if it be worth while to offend fo great a part of the nation by the eftablifhment of a doctrine equally indifferent both to liberty and hap- pinefs. I may be deceived, but it appears to me that the genius of the Englifh has fhewn itfelf fu- pcrior to ours in their fyftem of equality. Events Mr. Necker; 285 Events have doubtlefs led them to their object ; but this is a diftinction which I mall not flop to enquire into. Leaving then to the Englifh legiflators all the honour of this fyftem, I per- ceive that they have perfectly rilled up the moral and political views of which fo great a queftion prefents the outlines. They have felt that the monarch, the depofitary of the executive power, and ah effential branch of the legiflature, would be too feeble and too ifolated, if he were not furrounded with cha- racters of a nature in fome degree congenial with his own, if he were unfupported by a po- litical corps feparate and diftinct from the mafs of citizens, and who mould feem to be the prop and the ornament of the majefty of the throne. Thefe old philofophers in politics and mora- lity have alfo felt that, neither in a morning nor an evening fitting, were opinions to be overturned that had grown up with ages, and had determined the refpect paid by every, na- tion to fuch races of men as were diftinguimed by important fervices to the ftate. In the mean time, influenced by great prin- ciples, the Englifh have not thought proper to licenfe the indefinite extenfion of honorary appellations, and ft ill lels their diflemination b 7 z$6 Administration of by all the divifions and fubdivifions of titles formerly obferved in France, and which intro- duced into fociety and into affairs a multitude of petty fuperiorities, the fources of fo many vain pretentions. From thefe different confiderations the En- glim have given general fatisfaction to the na- tion at large by uniting honorary diftin&ions into a fingle houfe of peers confiding of be- tween two and three hundred perfons. Thefe diftinctions are hereditary, but they procure during the life of the father no prerogative or title to his children,* who differ in no refpect from the reft of the citizens, but, in competi- tion with them, folicit from the people the ho- nourable function of reprefentatives in the houfe of commons. As this fecond divifion of the parliament is infinitely fuperior to the firfl in credit and liability, and perfons are ad- mitted without refpecl: of name or birth, real equality feems to be perfectly eftablifhed. En- glifh pride, that pride more national and more patriotic than our metaphyfical vanities, takes no offence at the exiftence of two or three hundred hereditary peers, deftined, not to re- * The elder Tons of the firft peers only have the title of lords by courtefy. prefent Mr. Ne cker. 287 prefent any particular clafs of citizens, but to fupport the royal prerogative and give luftre to the majefty of the throne, to imprint on the national laws a more elevated character, and to defend conftitutional liberty againft the at- tempts of government, againft the errors of the people, and in cafe of neceflity againft the variable opinions of a reprefentative body whofe functions are temporary. The Engliih nation may perhaps be miftaken ; but it has conceived that the happinefs and fate of the country would be fafer when not merely con- fided to fuperintendants of its own choice, but to other guardians alfo whofe attachment to the conftitution and the profperity of the ftate mould be fecured by an hereditary in- tereft. < If we defcend to confiderations of lefs mo- ment, and examine the calculations of vanity and felf-love, we mall perceive that the houfe of peers, the r>embers of which are titled, in- creafes the luftre of that which is aftbciated with it: it conftitutes, if I may fo fay, the in- fignia of honour, the ribbon of the whole na tion. Refpet is always founded on fome point of comparifonj and perhaps we mould be -288 Administration of be miftaken in fuppofing, that the deference paid to a fimple citizen of England out of his country depends folely on his quality of being a free man : without reflecting on it, we con- fider him as an individual on a level with the peers of the realm, who again are equal to perfons of higheft rank in Europe ; and we may doubt whether this Englifhman, ob- fcure in appearance, may not himfelf attain the fame diftindtion. A citizen of France, according to the new conftitution, will by no means be confidered in the fame point of view ; for he will appear only as a part of a vaft monotonous whole, deftitute of all thofe prominences which ftrike the imagination. Thus, if we confine our- felves to the eftimations of pure vanity, the commons of France would have gained more had they admitted fome modification of their fyflem, which deftroys every kind of diftino- tion. It is remarkable that the En 'ilh, to eftablifli an equality among them, have raifed the greater part of the nation and placed it on a -V_ level with the lefs : the French, to attain the fame end, have funk the lefs to a level with the greater. Thus England has effected her purpofe Mr. Necker. 289 purpofe by the elevation, France by the degra* dation of a parti The difference is important both to external confideration and internal happinefs. To defpife thefe reflections as tranfient, would be wrong : the moft fubtile ideas ferve as the elements of opinion, and imperceptibly modify it* Thus in large focieties thefe ideas frequently acquire the greateft fway when they are moft refined : from their very fubtility they elude the grafp of argument, and the trammels of ratiocination. One might fay* that, reduced to a fort of atmofphere, they acted on opinion as the air on phyfical fub- ftances, not by any vifible powei', but by con- tinuity and infenfible penetration. Civil and political liberty, and an equality of happinefs, are the points at which we fhould aim* But to form a tyrannical fyftem. of ftricT: equality of rank, to perfecute the moft trifling diftinclions with that fpirit of de^ fpotifm which led Tarquin to cut off the head of every poppy that rofe a little above the reft, is to have a very narrow philofophy, or a Very extenfive notion of vanity in general. There is more weaknefs in dreading every kind of conventional fuperiority, than in U compli- 290 Administration of compliantly enjoying fuch advantages. Be- fide, this is not the caufe of the people. To hold out to it a contrary language is to deceive it. Vanity is a fentiment, the action of which is neceffarily limited : it may exift between the different ranks of fociety, which, from their approximation, may look up to one another ; but from the loweft clafles to the higheft rank this vanity never exifted. The differences of fortune and education feparate men in a far more ftriking manner, and will ever continue fo to feparate them, fince thefe diftinctions, of all the greateft, are in the inevitable order of things. Neither is it an indifferent refolution when we take upon us to deftroy the habitude and duty of refpect ; for we at the fame time ef- fect a change of manners : and a nation per- ^ haps, which, with this light rein, would have appeared gentle and humane, will become rude and favage the inftant it is totally eman- cipated from it. It is alfo a lingular fcheme, to feek to com- bine, with the depravity of the prefent times and the corruption of an ancient monarchy, profcriptions of names, retrenchments of titles, and all thofe auflere forms which accord only 1 with Mr. Necker, 291 "With the fimplicity of manners of fome petty- republic, or the fevere principles of fome rigid feci:. Our nature is not to be changed by force ; and before we are equalized by a co'm- pulfatory law, we mould be brought together by moral fentiment, the fole tie that can be of any duration. They fay, and here the wit lends its affift- ance to the defire they have of diffembling their fecret fentiments, that they have de- ftroyed hereditary nobility, to prevent thofe diftinctions from bringing back to us at fome future period real privileges : but if we are in dread of pretenfions, we mould not add to their force by compreffing them. Befide, will the practice of fociety be prevented from preferving a tradition, of which we may try in vain to interrupt the courfe ? and will not the word formerly, which cannot be pro- fcribed, preferve on public deeds the type of what men were ? But in the incorporeal effence of nobility, what a man was, will ever continue to mark what he is ; for things founded in opinion are alone independent of the ftrongeft empire : in vain will men feek to govern the imagination in the name of the law; of all our moral fenfes it is the moft U 2 rebel- 292 Administration of rebellious, and in fuch an attempt fuccefs 1* impoflible. Befide, was there ever a circumftance under which conventional fuperiority had lefs power to wound invidious vanity than an epoch fo glorious for all the French as the prefent, an epoch when under a free ccnftitution genius, talents and virtue refume their ftation, and can fo eafily efface every other diftin&ion? This is undoubtedly the only true man- ner of leflening the importance of rank and title, while that which has been chofen an- nounces a weaknefs of mind unworthy of being aflbciated with the noble and generous fentiments of liberty. The fuppreflion of hereditary diAinclions is alio the leaft of all fteps towards equality. To eftablifh in reality that levelling fyftem of which fome are fo jealous, men mould be affimilated to each other not only by fortune, but alfo by education, by that cultivation of mind the diverfity of which eftablifhes differ- ences of efteem far greater than thofe of name. All men are equal, all men are brothers : true, but in this relationfhip there are elder bro- thers better treated than thofe of Normandy. Before we were all placed on the fame line, an Mr. Necker, 293 an equal fortune fhould have been given to all; and on one mould have been beftowed revenues, on another knowledge, on a third moral qualities, with an infinite number of other advantages of which the greater part of mankind is unhappily deftitute. But we have been obliged to redeem, by the inequalities which are the re'fult of differences of property, thofe flill greater inequalities which we mould have experienced in a ftate of nature. Juf- tice, and the confederacy formed to confecrate and defend it, have delivered the weak from the oppreflive yoke of force and violence : we muft receive them therefore with all their confequences, and not feparate in idea the effects of a principle from the principle itfelf. Let us confider ourfelves fuch as we are; let us confider ourfelves in a ftate of fo- ciety, the bafis of which is the maintenance of the rights of every one; and let us not, by inconfiderately re-eftablifhing the empire of a blind force, recal thofe primitive relations which introduced among men a kind of fu- periority far more dreadful and tyrannical than all thofe phantoms of the imaginatioa againft which we are now in arms. What if, after having annihilated all rank, U 3 we 294 Administration of wc fhould remain equal in power and credit ! But we mall have our great men, and our great men to be dreaded: we mail have our peers of the realm ; and they will be the moll dangerous amongft us ; they who defire that every thing fhould be put into the hands of the people, to move them afterwards at their pleafuie, to make themfelves matters of them, and rule them by their unworthy writings ; then to make of them the inftru- ments of their jealoufy, the inflruments of their hatred, the inftruments of their defpotic opinions ; in their name to give laws to the legiflators themfelves ; and to be the lords and mafters of us all. Ah ! what a change ! what a fuperiority ! Of all others it is the mod to be dreaded. In fine, and it is my laft remark, before giving ourfe'lves up without remorfe to the attractions of a novel fyftem of equality, all with one accord fhould have confented to it ; we fhould have arrived together in a colony with the fame titles, and maintained that parity under the refpectable fan&ion of a ge- neral compact: but to eftablifli our equaliza- tion by the laws of force and conftraint, to eftablifh it by a facrifke in which they who irapofe Mr. Nec ker. 295 impofe It have no part, fhews no refpecl: to the laws of property, or the facred maxims of juftice. Still lefs does this refpecl: appear, if we fix our attention on a linking circumftance. On the one hand, a great power is put into the hands of the people j on the other, the lead- ers of the commons are put in pofTeffion of every place that can warrant them the refpecl: of the multitude : they are made judges, mu- nicipal officers, adminiftrators of departments and diftricts, and foon they will become bi- fhops. There was one clafs of citizens alone who were protected by the regard paid them on account of their ancient honorary titles, and the patronage attached to their territorial pofTeffions : of thefe they are defpoiled, and thus they come in for no fhare. With them, therefore, it is not equality that is in fact efta- blifhed, but the greateft difparity. Let them beware; the diftance is very fmall between the principle which, for the fake of gratifying the vanity of the many, takes away from the few certain honorary prerogatives confecrated by the practice of ages, and the principle which, for the fake of U 4 grati- 296 Administration op gratifying the wants of the many, fhould au- thorife the reduction of overgrown property. Individual property is in molt inftances lefs fanctiiied by prefcription than titles and fa- mily diftinctions ; and therefore ought not to }iope fucceisfully to efcape the inferences that will be drawn from general fyflems of equa- lity. The arguments will be found ready pre- pared in the harangues of the Gracchi ; and nothing can be requifite to their fuccefs but the union of a fet of reprefentatives as little accuiiiom-d to the conveniences of property, as is the greater part of i^e prefent aflembly to pre eminence of birth. V. c are ignorant beforehand where a firft flep may lead; we are ignorant what princi- ples may be grafted on ours by the perfons who (hall come after us. Having once vio- lated the temple of juftice and deftroyed its gates, others will be guilty of greater excefles, and we fhall be accomplices in their word profanations. I could never accufe myfelf of having negr lected for a moment the guard of this temple, or cjeferte 1 my honourable poll. It has been feen how, at the opening of the States Gene- ral, I defended the xights of the creditors of the Mr. Necker. 397 the (late; how at a fubfequent period I ex- pofed myfelf to confiderable difgrace, rather than dhTemble my fentiments refpecYing the rigorous and vain profcription of hereditary diftinctions 5 how I urged the neceflity of in* demnifying or making fome compenfation to thofe who had been reduced to the moft pain- ful diftrefs by the abolition of pecuniary rights attached from time immemorial to a certain defcription of property. It may have been feen in like manner how I undertook the caufe of thofe whofe houfes were fet on fire and their pofleflions laid wafte, in confequence of the total neglect of public order. I one day thus addreffed the Affembly upon this fubject " It is a debt which I have not been w able to bring to account, but it is worthy " the notice of a great nation. Many citi ** zens have incurred confiderable lofTes; their " habitations have been burned down, and *' their property plundered. The tutelary " authority of the laws would have protected f ' them from thefe outrages, if it had not *' been deftitute of power : yet this protection f is what every citizen expects when he u brings annually a certain fhare of his for-( *' tune to the national treafury. Does it not " appear 29S . Administration of M appear to you juft that the departments *' fhould make a calculation of thefe lofles, ** and that an indemnification, not rigoroufly " exact, but prudent and equitable, fhould be " confidered as a debt of the nation to be " liquidated at leaft in happier days, if not " at prefent ? It is at the requeft of the king " that I fubmit this idea to your confidera- il tion ; it does honour to his benevolent " heart, and is worthy the fupreme head of " the nation of which you are the reprefenta- " tives." The AfTembly having in one of its me- moirs beftowed fome applaufe on this part of my difcourfe, I flattered myfelf that I had fuc- cefsfully difpofed them to this act of juftice; and I delayed not to place the fubjecT: before them in a more formal manner, by recom- mending, in my report on the finances of 29 May 1790, "that a loan of fixty mil- u lions at five per cent, fhould be appro- " priated to the mitigation of the lofles occa- " fioned by the feverity of their decrees and " the excefles committed in the provinces." Thefe were not the only principles of juf- tice which I endeavoured to imprefs on the minds of the National AfTembly; I took the liberty Mr. Necker, 299 liberty of recommending others of the fame mild and equitable nature ; and I thus ex- prefied myfelf in a memoir which I read to the AfTembly on the evening preceding the day when the falaries of the clergy were to be the fubject of difcuffion : " I have always conceived that, by a fpirit <c of conciliation, by temporary indemnifica- " tions, temporary from neceflity, and by that " tendernefs and refpect which are due to " thofe from whom we demand very confi- " derable facrifices, we may foften the bitter- " nefs of their grief. What have they not a " right to expect from the generofity of men " who, by a courfe of events, are become the " moil powerful as well as the mod happy ! " It is an error to fuppofe that individual pri- " vations, extorted without meafure and with- 44 out proportion, mull be equally beneficial 44 to public intereft. There is in the nature 44 of all focial compacts a tribute of confidence " and mutual kindnefs, as neceffary to their 44 fuccefs as any other fpecies of contribution. 44 Have no apprehenfion that future genera- 44 tions will reproach you for the lenity you 44 mail mew to fuch of your fellow-citizens as <4 you detach by violence from their pall fitu- 44 ations* <l a 300 Administration of u ations. Thefe generations wilt inherit a " fufficient portion of the fruits of your la- " hours : be careful only to fecure the perpe- tuity of them ; be careful that they defcend to pofterity without having coft too many tears, and as the offspring of a revolution tranquil and beneficent." It feems to me alfo that in applying to the demands of the ftate the revenues of fo many donations made to the church by the ancient nobility of France, a fmall portion might have been felected in order to heal the wounds in- Aided on their defcendants. But the utmoft indifference has been fhown for their loffes, and we turn away our eyes from the defpair to which a numerous clafs of citizens have been reduced, whofe names have for fo many ages been diftinguifhed in the fafti of mo- narchy. Such a mode of proceeding is in- deed fevere. Their fortune, their rank, their perfonal tranquillity, all the conditions of their focial exiftence have been invaded and perfecuted with a rigour that is unexampled. One might have fuppofed that they had not been, like the reft' of the inhabitants, children of the country. No fentiment of mildnefs or generofity has illuftrated the character of thofe who, Mr. Neckeh, 301 who were in pofTeflion of power. Why did they not in reality acquire liberty by conqueft as they wifh to perfuade us ? They would then perhaps have had the magnanimity that ufually accompanies victory ; but by abufmg their advantages, by demanding facrifices of others, never of themfelves, by hearing with- out emotion the complaints of the opprefTed, they have polluted that liberty which was committed to them pure and unfullied, and which came forth from the throne accompa- nied with peace and juftice. Alas ! it was in the midft of univerfal felicity that they ought to have received it with its noble retinue, and all the virtues mould have crowded around it. In Ihort, as if fo much feverity and {o many hardmips were not fufficient, they now at- tempt to trouble the confciences of men by having recourfe to oaths ; oaths which are always placed by the fide of danger, and in the midft of terrors and facrifices. Here alfo it is the fafety of others they endanger, while they live tranquilly themfelves, impregnable in their own ftrength and fupreme authority. I will not liften to the whifpers of calumny, or entertain a doubt of the religious fpirit of the National AfTembly. We never afk fuc- cour 302 Administration op cour but of our friends ; and the Aflembly therefore would not bafely call to their aid the religion of an oath, if they did not pof- fefs in their hearts the principles which ren- der fuch an obligation facred. I beg leave however to make one obfervation : when they continually aflbciate the God of .the univerfe in their caufe, when they require him as the fecurity of the promifes that are exacted, they ought to prefent to him the homage of goodnefs, juftice, companion and lenity, the virtues which he demands of us, the virtues which he loves, and of which the relations he generoufly fuftains towards us are the bright example and glorious teftimony. How omnipotent is morality, and how pre- fumptuous are we wHen~we fuppofe the un- derstanding to be a more infallible guide ! Men in the midft of their paffions, legiflators in the midft of their arduous occupations, in- novators in the midft of their fervid ideas, muft all refort to the ftandard of this great principle, if they would not fall into conti- nual deviations and errors. Morality, as I^\ have frequently obferved in my works, is the wifdom of ages. They who confult and rc- fpect it, are placed round a light-houfe the brilliant Mr. Necker. 303 brilliant flame of which is never extinguifhed; and guided by this light they are lure to find their way through the labyrinth of affairs, and through all the various interefts which thwart and clafh with each other. It would be no difficult undertaking to ap- ply thefe reflections to the National Aflembly, and fhew that, by a more inflexible morality, they might have avoided their principal mif- takes. It is by the licentioufnefs of their principles that they have extricated them- felves from a multitude of embarraflinents, into which they would never have fallen had morality been their guide. Meanwhile the morality of legiflators is the leaft reflrained of any, becaufe in an infinite number of civil U arrangements they are placed above the fphere of ordinary rules ; but they are not placed above juftice, above gratitude, above genero- fity towards the weak, above the duties which a confidence in their integrity demands, above the love of order, above a facred refpect for the lives and fafety of men, and in fhort above numberlefs other primitive virtues. How much higher would have been the character of the Aflembly, if reflecting on thefe confiderations, and by them regulating their 364 Administration of their conduct, they had demanded refpedt t>y the firmnefs of their meafures, and the dignity of their principles ! They would then nd longer have been obliged continually to do homage at the fhrine of opinion, and to keep their minds perpetually upon the ftretch the more eafily to afcertain this opinion, and, get- ting as it were the ftart of it, to ordain with pompous affectation what is thus tyrannically dictated. The Aflembly might then without fervility have obtained the public approba- tion. They would have appeared to fit under* the made of juftice and reafon, and to be cano- pied with that facred oak whofe roots feem to penetrate to the centre, and whofe branches are fed with the dew of heaven. Their de- cilions, always in conformity to the principles of morals, would have been liftened to as if they had been the words of immortal life, and never would they have been driven to court a thoufand allies unworthy of their friendfhip, and of the bufincfs in which they were en- gaged. I feel myfelf compelled in this place to call the attention of the reader for a moment to myfelf. I underftand the cenfure that is pafled Mr. Necker. 305 patted upon me : my attachment to the princi- ples of juftice they condemn as obftinacy and prejudice ; and, the more effectually to ex- plode it, diftinguifh it by the appellation of ariftocratical weaknefs, I know too well what weaknefs is raoft congenial to my heart. People of France, it was your intereft that lirft infpired me with fentiments of tender- nefs ; it was for you that I fought my earlieft battles : but you were then difunited and im- potent, and while I deplored the unfeeling manner in which you were treated, while I urged the forbearance that was due to you, while I was perpetually difquieted for your fate, then, as now, men endeavoured by nick- names and ridiculous epithets to filence my expoftulations. Now you have abandoned me, I would willingly feek fome other ob- ject of attachment ; but it is beyond my power; I have not even this poor confola- tion. Your enemies and mine have raifed a barrier again ft me that I fliall never feek to pafs. They will not fail to entertain againft me inexpiable hatred, fince the faults which they have committed they charge upon me. And was it I that infpired them with info- lence and caprice in the hour of their profpe- X ' rity? 306 Administration of rity ? Was it I that taught them ftubbornnefs and inflexibility at a time when compliance and moderation appeared indifpenfible ? No ; if they were not now overwhelmed with mif- fortune, if they were not perfecuted and op- prefTed, I fhould have a thoufand reproaches to addrefs to them. I truft therefore that when at length I have again undertaken to aflert their rights and their property, they will not imagine that I have entertained for a moment the project of recovering their fa- vour. I have no need of them, I have no need of any one. My future companion, that fhall cheer my life and confole my death, fhall be memory alone. When I recollect the purity of the principles that have actuated me, I find no where an alliance fuitable to my claims. Meanwhile the inftinct of man leads him to fociety, and, urged by this inftinct, I aflbciate myfelf in imagination with the honed of every different climate, with the honourable few whofe ruling paflion is the love of vir- tue ; I afk no tendernefs but theirs, I feck no union but with men thus eftimably diftin- guifhed. I return from this digreffion. It was alfo in Mr. Necker. 307 in the name of the laws of morality that I fo frequently called the attention of the AfTem- bly to the melancholy confequences of the in- confiderate liberty of the prefs, and reminded them of the danger of thofe public manufac- tories of impofture and calumny, thofe forges of darknefs where fo many incendiary publi- cations are daily fabricated. Eftablifhments like thefe would more aptly be founded on the fombre banks of the Acheron, or in the court of the palace of the Furies, than in the midft of a country where the purity of the atmofphere and the afpetT: of a ferene fky form a contrail: with fuch devouring poifons, fuch infernal flames, as are every where fcat- tered, and which cover the face of the coun- try. They are abufes, it is faid, which the defence and fupport of freedom render necef- fary, and thofe who love freedom ought to tolerate them. Yes ; they are fuch abufes as afTaflination, falfe witnefs, the public cry of fedition, and a number of other crimes. Ah ! render a purer homage to freedom, do more juftice to the conftitution that fecures it, and you will no longer perceive the neceffity of fo corrupt a fupport. And is it then fo diffi- cult to love liberty, which makes us happy in X 2 fo $o8 Administration of fo many ways ? Or does it appear more at- tractive when it has for its fatellites men who feem to walk in its train that they might fur- render themfelves with lefs reftraint to the violence of their paffions, men nourifhed in hatred, and the very found of whofe voice fills every heart with terror ? Regardlefs of public tranquillity, and fkilfui in exciting commotions, they are impatient to know all the mifchief they can do, and to get rid of their remorfe they haften, with the torch of difcord in their hands, to enjoy the fpedtacle of their infamous fuccefs. Confummate alfo in the perfidious art of mangling reputations, they make a paftime of this abominable practice, and it is difficult to fay which pleafes them moft, the annihilation of every fenti- ment of efteem, or the fubverfion of all kinds of authority ; for they wifh anarchy to reign in our hearts, as well as in the bofom of our political focieties. We mould defpife thefe men, it is faid. This is an eafy fentiment ; but will their calumnious writings, will their incendiary difcourfes be defpifed alfo by the people ? Are we ignorant that a lie is always an invention at pleafure, and that of confe- rence it may be proportioned with greater accu- Mr. Nec ker, 309 accuracy to the difpofitions of the moment, and adjufted with precifion to our ruling paffion ? Are we ignorant that a lie is always a fimple idea, and that, being never modi^ed like truth, it will make a ftronger impreflion on the mind ? Do we forget that ignorance and misfortune render men fufpicious, and that thefe being the portion of the majority of mankind they will not fail to lend a fa- vourable ear to injurious accufations and ca- lumnies ? Let us add to thefe reflections an obfervation that is worthy of our notice. The courfe of opinion is entirely changed. It formerly defcended from the higheft clafTes of fociety to. the loweft ; and thefe fuperior claiTes, who were neceflarily enlightened by education, rejected at lead all grofs fables, and more art was neceffary to deceive them. Evident malignity and palpable fcandal were thus detected and flopped in their outfet, and could not difTeminate their baneful influence. But in the prefent day, when the people are immediately acted upon and their paffions addrefTed, when their opinions are made ufe of to excite commotions, all kinds of lies are become infinitely more dangerous, as there is no mound, no fluice which can any longer X 3 fufpend 310 Administration op fufpend their courfe or prevent their difper- fion. In this order of things the fceptre will foon be in the hands of the mod daring and fraudulent pretenders. They will preach power to the people, that they may be able to give laws in its name ; as mini(lers > in former times, have been eager to affert the authority of the prince that they might govern every thing by the arbitrary mandate of his will. In both cafes there are the fame paffions predominant ; and dangers will only change their exterior, as long as we neglect the empire of reafon, or choofe any other guide. Why do we not at leaft endeavour to fup- prefs thofe writings, the mod fcandalousof any, which infult the monarch, and hold up the royal majefty to ridicule ? It is doubtlefs eafy to find barren fpeclators who will laugh at the low and fcurrilous images introduced into fub- jects which have never before been treated but with reverence. It is the effect of all con- trails when they are prefented to the imagi- nation, and it is thus that fuperficial wits have gained admiration when they have firft played their jefts on religious ceremonies : but the prefumption will be no more profitable to fociety Mr. Necker. 311 fociety in one inftance than in the other. Do- we imagine that the language of forbearance and refpect which has ever been employed in fpeaking of the perfon of the king, and the various fymbols of his greatnefs, was introdu- ced from fear ? This old practice is founded on the good of the flate, and is to be referred to a focial principle. Men felt that the employ- ment of force, though it were in perpetual exertion, would be inadequate to the main- tenance of public order; and that fuch means would be attended with alarming feverities peculiarly incompatible with gentlenefs of manners and the fpirit of liberty. Thefe reflections led them to inveft the chief of the empire with all the majefty that could attract refpect and homage, in order that he might unite to his real power the authority of opi- nion, an authority whofe univerfal and regu- lar operation would keep men in the obferv- ance of their duties without violence and without commotion. The authority of a father over his child fuggefted the firft idea of this beneficent power, and a more finking example of it ftill is to be found in the fup- port that religious opinions conftantly give to morals. A free country fhould defire more X 4 than 3i2 Administration of than any other, a fpecies of dominion which renders the odious intervention of an armed force and the degrading ufe of correction and punifhment lefs frequent and lefs neceflary. In the mean time our legislators, inftead of calling thefe fublime ideas to their afliftance, believe themfelves never fo truly great as when they fport with the long eftablifhed principles of honour, and treat conventions with difdain in which they neither acknow- ledge the ftamp of experience nor the figna* ture of univerfal wifdom. Every benefit is expected from the love of liberty ; but the focial edifice is compefed of parts which necefifarily require one bond to unite them. I have greater hopes from the fuccour of patriotifm, the only fentiment whole excefs is never dangerous. But even this generous fentiment ilands in need of all the virtues to eitablilh and confolidate its empire. When detached from them, it can- not always refill felfifli confiderations ; and frequently the moft paltry, thofe which fpring from wounded vanity and difapointed ambi- tion, are fufficient to unnerve it. Human nature is no better than this : let us not there- fore Mr. Necker. 313 fore truft to the firft effervefcence of our minds, let us not upon the faith of a momentary enthufiafm enact laws for a perpetuity, and let us not imagine that a fingle fentiment, even though it mould become a pafiicn, can of itfelf hold in harmony that multitude of - interefts by which our long eftabliihed fo- cieties are at this moment governed. The ftrongeft of all fentiments, that of revenge, has fometimes fufficed to unite favage nations ; but after two thoufand years of iocial habi- tude, we cannot be governed like them, and vain would be the attempt to reconcile the fimplicity and unity of the ideas by which they were actuated, with the agitation of our character and our depraved manners. Indeed nothing can be conceived more exquifitely abfurd than the multitude of men of a fupe- rior order that are faid to furround us, and nothing can be more injurious than the experiments of their intellect and the firft elTays of their genius. They are like the preternatural books 1 have fomewhere read of, that a malicious fairy endowed with the faculties of motion and fpeech. Like thofe books they are faid to be abftract and inde- pendent, fuperior to thofe influences of the 3 imagina- 314 Administration of imagination which govern the majority of their fpecies, and which infpire the generality of opinions and fentiments. Together with imagination they deftroy the fafcinating power not only which fprings from the ma- jefty of the throne, but the infpirations of honour, of eftabliihed cuftoms and manners, of birth and elevated rank, and laft of all whatever is to be afcribed to the love of fame and the dread of infamy. Are they not afraid that, in the midft of this indifcrimi- nate deftruction, they mould at length anni- hilate that intellectual bond, of all the ftrong- cft, the mildeft, but the moft indifpenfible, which links us to the obedience of morality, and whofe falutary power is ten thoufand times more irrefiftible than all the laborious fubtleties of metaphyseal legiflation ? It is not the French nation only that our legiflators are defirous of fubjecting to all the conditions of their new theory ; they are eager to have the fame doctrine promulgated through every country. What profulion of regard for the human fpecies ! It might be fuppofed the more generous fince, infurrec- ticn and violence being the means to be made uf Mr. Necker. 315 ufe of, it is apparently the happinefs of fuo ceeding generations alone for which they in- tereft themfelves. How generous is their anxiety in wifhing to extend their benefits even to thole petty republics who for fuccef- five centuries have been weak enough to be- lieve that they were happy, and who would perhaps at the prefent moment defire that their lofty mountains mould feparate them from the influx of our fcience, as they for- merly defended them from the lawlemiefs of our political paffions ! Kind-hearted fouls ! reftrain a little your benevolence till you can exhibit the fpe&acle of your own profperity ; this will be more eloquent than your writings. Meanwhile remember that nothing lefs than the authority of Mofes and the rich fruits of the Land of Promife could induce the Ifraelites to quit their country. Thefe fruits you are as yet unable to mew, and the facred voice of a prophet is not to be recognifed in your cries of profcription and hatred, the only ones which^are heard at any confiderable dif- tance. What a feries and diverfity of reflections prefent themfelves to my mind as I go along ! 5 bu * y 316 Administration of but the plan I have laid down will not permit me to purfue them. I avoid indeed the dif- cuflion of every fubjecT: upon which I have not delivered my fentiments during my ad- miniftration, that I may not be accufed of fay- ing now what I would not have faid at that time. I do not however afpire at gaining the favour of men at prefent in poiTeffion of power, or rather I conceive not the hope ; for I can- not forget that it is by having continually re- commended juftice, morality, moderation, and kindnefs, by having prefented to their view confiderations in which the welfare of the Hate was materially interefted, by having open- ed their eyes to the dangers which threatened it, and urged their attention to them, that I have incurred the difpleafure of the National Aflembly, and that my intreaties, renewed too often, have been thought importunate. Meanwhile I would readily confent to be judged by the efteem which my ideas may merit, as exprefled in the memoirs which at different periods I have laid before the AfTem- bly, and its various committees. There it wo did be feen how I every inftant prefled the Aflembly to adopt fuch efficacious meafures as might reconcile the care of freedom with the preferva- Mr. Necker. 317 prefer vation of public order, and how I en- forced the neceflity of an executive power that mould be equal to the accomplifhment of this important objecT;, There it would be feen how I inculcated on the minds of the Affembly that attachment and confidence which the virtues and intentions of the mo- narch fo juftly merited. There it would be feen how frequently I recommended modera- tion both in their principles and fyftems, and how I wifhed them not to pull down without building up again. There it would particu- larly be feen how I undertook the caufe of the oppreffed, how I appealed in their favour, fometimes to the laws of juftice, fometimesto the feelings of generofity ; how I fpoke of peace in the midft of troubles, and of lenity and forbearance in the midft of hatred and animofity. Laftly, there it would be feen with what zeal I defended the facred duties of humanity, and how earneftly I demanded, in the name of public tranquillity, and as the greateft bleffing that could be conferred on the people, that the Aflembly would not abufe the ignorance and credulity of this people, and then convert its blind paffions into an inftru- ment of vengeance ; that they would not cor- rupt 31 8 Administration op rupt its manners before they entrufled it with the government ; that they would not employ its unbridled paffions as the fupport of its reign, nor degrade it into an executioner at the moment they were about to elevate it into a mafter. For this part of my fentiments and my conduct I afk not the gratitude of men : no, I prefent it as a tribute at the footftool of that Being whom during my whole life I have faithfully ferved, who is the principle of order and the laft end of morality, and to whom it is not, as to our fellow-mortals, painful to render an account of our actions. Willingly do I offer him this tribute of my fubmiffion ; willingly do I afcribe to him whatever good I have done, at the moment that I am about to enter upon the mod honourable meafure of my adminiftfation, that fervice to the country in which I prefided, the reality of which can leaft be brought into queftion. It has ever been the conviction of my mind, and a fource of confolation, that without the fuccour of Providence I could never have triumphed over the numerous obftacles with which I was forced to contend. I fpeak of the important affair of provifions and the dreadful famine from which I certainly preferved Paris and many Mr. Necker. 319 many of the provinces. In exprefling myfelf thus ftrongly, it becomes me to give the com- pleteft evidence of the truth of my aflertion, fince when contrafted with the indifference the Affembly has fhcwn towards me, it amounts almoft to an accufation of their con- duct. It may be remembered that about the mid- dle of the year 1789, and till the new harveft afforded an abundant fupply of corn, a conti- nual difquietude prevailed at Paris and in the neighbouring provinces. The fupplies de- ftined for the ufe of the capital, and which arrived fometimes by water and fometimes by land, only anfwered daily to the wants of the day ; and fo great was the diftrefs, that the failure of twenty or thirty cargoes in the im- menfe fuccour derived from foreign countries, would have rendered famine inevitable. This truth, which is known to every body, being once eftablifhed, it follows that the leaft re- miffnefs, the negletl: of a fingle precaution during a period of fifteen months, would have occafioned the greateft calamities of which it is poilible to form an idea ; and when I con- fider the extent of the fupply that was wanted, and 320 Administration op and the diverfity of means it was necefiary to employ, when I confider the arduous tafk I had to execute, and the cares, the anxieties and the fatigues I endured, the recollection ftill terrifies me. I ought to ohferve in the firft place that when I was called into office, towards the end of Auguft 1788, the free exportation of corn was permitted, not by a fimplc toleration, not on the fingle authority of an arret of council, but by a formal law enregiftered in all the courts, and which had obtained the applaufe of the whole nation. Men thus lived under the charm of an in- definite freedom, and every one applied it as he pleafed to his fpeculations. Government committed the care of the public weal to the action and impreflion of private intereft. In the cafe of many commerces thefe two inter- efts are undoubtedly united, and a circum- ftance frequently recurring they converted into an abfolute principle. This principle, one of the doctrines of the philofophical (Economifts, which lately exploded now began to revive, was not likely to be voluntarily abandoned, or at lead the calc ulations of forefight would not have afforded a iufficieut motive to the facrifice. An Mr Necker. 321 An undoiibting confidence in the falutary ef- fects of liberty is fo very commodious to ad- miniftration, permits them to govern fo many things with fo little trouble, that probably they would have waited to the laft extremity before they fhook off a flumber that they be- lieved reafon approved and philofophy coun- tenanced. There was indeed a claufe of referve in the law which had been formed upon the fubject for the cafe of reprefentations being made by the provincial affemblies of dangers likely to arife from this liberty. But the intereft of the maritime provinces, which, when exporta- tion is free, draw to themfelves the corn of the kingdom, is totally different from that of the central provinces, which are expofed to the rilk of lofing their fubfiftence without the poffibility of replacing it. Befide, it is not poflible for the different parts of a great king- dom to agree refpecting the degree of ('ear- nefs that ought to put an end to exportation; the meaning of the word dearnefs is vague a:i 1 uncertain, and depends upon the eflablifhe.l proportion between the time and the wages of the labouring part of the community. Of confequence the fentiment and demand of t'te Y different 322 Administration of different provinces upon this article will never agree till all are pervaded with a general ap- prehenfion, and then the period of precaution and prudence is abfolutely loft. Guided by thefe reflections, and the harveft of 1788 being completed juft before my re- turn to office, I applied myfelf without de- lay to the difcharge of one of the firft duties of my fituation, by collecting throughout the kingdom the moft circumftantial information refpecting the new crop, and the corn that was ftill upon hand of the preceding years har- veft. I enquired in like manner into the fitu- ation of other countries, and what afliftance we might hope to derive from thence. I found that it was neceflary, and that inftantly, to take every poflible precaution ; I therefore procured the fufpenfion of the late act in places where I conceived exportation to be moft dangerous ; and on the 7th of September the king iffued a general prohibition by an arret of council founded on my report. The neceflity of this firft ftep would admit of no delay, and I was not therefore intimi- dated, as might be fuppofed, by the confide- ration, which however prefented itfelf to my mind, that the prohibition, taking place imme- diately MRi Necker. 323 diately on my promotion to the adminiftra- tion, would infallibly be imputed to my ad- vice. I was not deceived in my conjecture; interefted motives are what men are always moft ready to fee and impute, fo much do they appreciate others by what they are con- fcious of in their own minds. My fyftem of exportation was extremely fimple, as I have had frequent occafion to /hew. It was governed by no immutable law, but was allowed or prohibited in con- formity to the circumftances of the times* Meanwhile the demands of the kingdom and the too certain appearances of a real dearth difcovering themfelves every day, I compared the price of corn in foreign markets with its price in the principal markets of France ; and finding the difference not fufficient to give to commerce the requilite activity, I propofed to the king to grant an importation bounty, firft upon American corn, and afterward upon every fpecies exported from the different ports of Europe. This bounty was regulated by an arret of council of 23 November 1788, but circum- ftances obliged me gradually to increafe it. It is the forefight of adminiftration that Y 2 makes 324 Administration of makes this fort of encouragement ufeful, and it is applicable to thofe periods when, deriving their knowledge from various fources, they judge with certainty that an indifpenfible com- modity will augment in price and foon become fcarce. Additional activity mould then be given to commerce; but this can only be done by holding out an immediate lure to indi- vidual intereft, which, differing from public intereft, can feldom be influenced by diftant and remote confiderations. In ordinary times, by a judicious ufe of bounties, the care of providing for the wants of a kingdom may be referred to the in- duflry of merchants ; but in years of cala- mity we cannot in prudence truft to the refult of their fpeculations. Probabilities are no longer a fufficient fecurity when the danger becomes imminent, when it threatens the public tranquillity, and when by being realized it may prove the fource of the moll: terrible evils. It is in the midft of fuch apprehen- fions that we feel with 'force both the uncer- tainty infeparable from all fpeculations, and the infufficiency of commercial means to fup- ply immenfc demands. Another important truth prefents itielf alfo, and which experience has Mr. Necker. 325 has fully demonftrated, and that is, that as foon as corn rifes to a certain degree of dear- nefs, merchants will have nothing to do with the commerce ; and their determination is founded on juft motives. The people blind, ignorant, urged by want, always regards as its enemies thofe who fell a necefTary com- modity at a very high price ; it beftovvs upon them the molt abufive appellations; it dictates laws to them with violence, and frequently makes them the victims of its error or its mifery. If government then, regardlefs of thefe confiderations, mould in all circumftances in- difcriminately rely on the cares of commerce, the kingdom in times of real dearth would be expofed to all the horrors of famine. Never did this truth appear more evident than in the courfe of the year 1789. The merchants in various towns of France at the time of the greateft fcarcity not only refufed to import corn on their own account, but were unwilling to be concerned merely as agents ; an office that is commonly fought with eagernefs, becaufe it affords a profit of commiffion without requiring them to advance money and without expofirfg them to any Y 3 rifk. 326 Administration of rifk. The perfons whofe fituation made tliem dependent on government, accepted fuch com-* millions merely becaufe they had not the power of refufal, and in acquitting themfelvea of their duty many of them were in danger of their lives : yet their undertaking was an act of beneficence, as corn bought on the king's account is always fold below the mar-t ket price. I had the good fortune to forefee the courfe of events; and judging that it was proper to employ extraordinary means in an extraor-? dinary year, I ordered in good time confider- able purchafes to be made. I thus procured from England and Ireland a great quantity both of corn and flour before the exportation of thefe articles was prohibited throughout Great Britain ; and the moment arrived when I regarded this fupply as more precious than all the riches of Potofi. Fears increafed, the demand became greater, appearances of famine were more confpicuous, yet itill beforehand with my precautions I provided a fuccour proportioned to the extent cf the evil. Italy, Sicily, America, Barbary, Germany, Brabant, Auitrian Flanders, Ire? land, England, Holland, the Hanfeatic towns, and Mr. Necker. 327 and all the Northern countries were made to contribute to the wants of France ; and in cafes where exportation could not be obtained without particular permiffion, the king was fo urgent in his entreaties that he had fre- quently the happinefs to fucceed. In the mean time as the calamity increafed it became neceffary to exhauft all the foreign magazines ; and for this purpofe we were obliged to make ufe of money, credit, pro- mifes, hopes, and whatever the moft perfever- ing activity could devife. Including freight and other expences the purchafes amounted to a fum exceeding fifty millions of livres* ; and l*^ though thefe operations were effected gra- dually, it is eafy to conceive what a prodigious extent * The quantity purchafed, taking in wheat, flour, bar- ley and rice, amounted to near 3,600,000 hundred weight, out of which there remained a fupply of fpeculation for the city of Paris. 1 cannot tell why M. de Calonne in his faft work thinks proper to controvert the articles which relate to this fubjecT: and are comprehended in the account of the finances. His whole argument rcfts upon the quan- tities mentioned in my memorial of the firft of July. But befide that that had no concern but with foreign fupplies, M. de Calonne has no fufpicion of the increafing extent of the demand during th latter .months of the year. It Y 4 would 32& Administration of extent of credit they required. I may aflert without vanity, that, in the embarrafling (late of public affairs, this credit is chiefly to be afcribed to my intervention. A London merchant, who gave the ftrongeft proofs of confidence, made a declaration of this nature to the municipality cf Paris, and other com- mercial houfes would have expreffed them- felves in fimilar terms had an opportunity offered. They had every reafon to believe that I was conftantly mindful of their fafety ; nor would I on any confederation have fuffered their fortunes to be injured by their con- tributing to fave France from the horrors of famine. I have ever efleemed gratitude as one of the firft of virtues. This obligation, would require a volume to anfwer all the calculations he has made upon the fubjecfc of revenue ; hut I will not take that trouble a fecond time. Meanwhile I cannot avoid noticing one thing which is perhaps remarkable. It appears in the official papers of M. de Calonne how he exprefTed himfelf to tl e king refpe&ing my adminiftr^tion, and it is veil known what was his language upon the fubje& in the *fiembly of Notables. I was a fpeclator of his administra- tion, and 1 have never repeated his name either to the king, or to any committee, or to any individual member of the National Afiembly. Behold how different are the Gods we fcrve ! which Mr. Necker. 329 which is not a written bond and cannot be profecuted before the tribunals, becomes fo much the more inviolable to hearts naturally virtuous, and it might juftly have been in- cluded in the lift of engagements placed by the National AfTembly under the fafeguard of French honour. The fpeeies of fecurity which I had given, in order to induce various commercial houfes implicitly to rely on us, I confidered as a per- gonal tie, and I regarded myfelf as tacitly involved in the hazards of their confidence. In offering therefore in one inflance my for- tune as the furety, I conceived that I rather made a more formal declaration than con- tracted any new obligation. As the circum- stances attending this bufinefs have rendered it remarkable, I fhall relate the particulars of it. The commercial houfes to which I had recourfe fet no bounds to their confidence ; but their own credit had its limits notwith- standing all the means I employed to aid it. It was upon fuch an occafion, and at the fingular period of the firft days of July 1789, that, perceiving the abfolute neceffity of pro- curing a greater fupply of corn for the city of Paris, and fearful of extending the engagements of 330 Administration of of thofe merchants regularly employed in making purchafes for us in Holland, I found iryfelf obliged to apply to other factors. But in the critical ftate of public affairs and of the finances in particular, what could be hoped from any commercial houfe who had had no previous connection with government, and to whom application was made for the firft time in a feafon of danger and embarraffment ? I faw the difficulty, and I hefitated not to remove it by rendering this tranfa&ion perfectly diitinct and independent of the hazards in- feparable from public events. I wrote then to Meflrs. Hope, celebrated merchants of Amfterdam, and who are known to all Europe ; and in giving them a commiflion I offered, among other means of fecurity, the mortgage of my perfonal property. I had not received their anfwer when the orders of the fovereign obliged me to quit the kingdom. On my arrival at Bruxelles I recollected my engage- ment ; it was not too late to retract, as Meflrs. Hope could not have had time to act in con- fequcnce of it. The fum was a million ; and as the offer was perfectly voluntary on my part, it would not have appeared aftonifhing if I had withdrawn it at a time when I was driven Mr. Necker. 331 driven out of France, and when I left alfo be- hind me new minifters who were at leaft indif- ferent as to my fortune. But as troubles in- creafed the propofed fecurity was ftill more neceflary to induce Meflrs. Hope to execute thecommiflion, and the new fupply of provi- fions I had been thus defirous of obtaining be- came alfo every day of greater importance. So far therefore from wifhing to diflblve the engagement, as I might have done, I would have given at Bruxelles or any where the fame pledge, if it had not been given before. It is remarkable however, and I derive my intel- ligence from the firft clerk of difpatches in the department of finances, it is remarkable that the firft letter opened by my fuccefTor, M. de Bre- teuil, was the anfwer of MefTrs. Hope, in which they accepted my propofal and promifed to execute the commiflion. They kept their word, to the great relief of the city of Paris. Notwithftanding all my cares, all my efforts, all the expedients to which it was poffible to have recourfe, whether in my public capacity or as a private individual, I ftill lived in con- tinual anxiety refpecYmg the fubfiftence of the capital and the neighbouring diftricts ; for it was neceflary to provide for them alfo, by whom 332 Administration of whom the capital itfclf had commonly been fupplied. It was not fufiicient that application was every where made for corn, it was not fuf- ficient that the money was raifed or the credit procured which the purchafes required; it was alfo neceflary that they mould arrive in time at our ports ; it was nccelTary to protect them from pillage on the road, fometimes by armed convoys, and fometimes by diflributing a por- tion at a moderate price in the principal towns. Thus, long before relief could be derived from the harveft of 1789, my mind was in conti- nual agitation from the fear of a contrary wind, a (hipwreck, and even from the de- lay of a fingle boat or a waggon. In (hort, the foreign (lores were exhaufted, and I re- ceived one day intelligence from Amfterdam, that great market of Europe, that there was not a fingle buftiel of corn to be bought till frefh fupplies mould arrive from the North. I wrote the moft urgent letter to Mr. Pitt, in which I exerted all my abilities to prevail on him to obtain from the king or the parliament leave of exportation to a certain degree. My de- mand was moderate ; but, though it was fc- conded by the efforts of our ambaflador at London, we were unable to fucceed. 5 The Mr. Ne c k e r. 33$ The minifterial correfpondence upon the fubjedt of provifions was for the greater part written with my own hand, and I was often indebted for the zeal of fome and the pa- tience and refignation of others to the fincere and earneft manner in which my fentiments were expreffed. The king, whom I perpetu- ally informed of the fituation of the kingdom, and of the hopes and fears I alternately con- ceived, allowed and commanded me to give to the merchants and farmers exprefs afluranccs of his protection, kindnefs and gratitude ; and alas ! at that time the name of the king had not loft its enchantment, and was of the moft efTential ufe. In reality there was no poffible expedient which I did not employ. The de- tail of my cares, now that the danger is paffed, would be tire fome to thofe who mould read them. My thoughts were occupied with the fame fubject every day and every inftant ; for, independently of the critical fituation of Paris, couriers arrived from all parts to inform me of the moft preffing wants fometimes in one place and fometimes in another. One day, after three hours abfence, as I returned home from the palace, I found my court filled with thefe meflengers. They crow r dcd round me to de- liver 334 Administration of liver their difpatches, and their hands Teemed to me to be armed with fo many poignards; I retired to my cabinet to read them, and after drying up my tears, convinced that I mould increafe the evil if I difcovered the excefs of my feelings, I appeared in the midft of a nu- merous circle with all the conftraint of ap- parent fecurity. But this effect, great as it was, did not completely deceive thofe who began to enjoy the pains which corroded my heart, and I had frequent occafion to ob- ferve that their looks were more penetrating than the eyes of rrfy friends. Be this as it may, I fliall have the fenfations ever prefent to my mind that were excited by the fucceflive arrival of thefe couriers, the noife of their horfes feet, the holla of joy they uttered at the time when they brought, without knowing it, the moft diftrefsful intelligence. Thefe circumftanccs preiaging every thing that was terrible, at length produced their effect upon my nerves, and gave me a fort of perpetual trembling. I was twice feized with a very dangerous dif- temper ; but in all the violence of my fever T was unable for a moment to forget the dif- quietude of thefe incidents, and I recollected that expreflion in my fpeech to the States Ge- neral Mr. Necker, $$$ fieral " Glory and honour are the motives ' which are fuggefted to animate you ; but " alas ! there are critical moments, there is a " ftate of anxiety and wearinefs, when the " fentiments that a minifter would mod natu- " rally require from the fpectators are fym- " pathy and companion." My own feelings quickly became thofe of every one about me, when in the middle of the night they were forced to awake me to iign fome direction, or to dictate an inftruc- tion to fome agent ; to give orders that the mod preffing necefhty demanded ; to exert an authority neceilary to prevent the deftruetion of a fupply ; to furnifh money to fill up an unexpected deficiency in a place where pur- chafes had been directed to be made ; in a word, to divert by a thoufmd expedients a misfortune at hand, or a danger that might overwhelm us. It was particularly the idea of fo large a city as Paris wanting bread for four and twen- ty hours, that agitated my foul and disturbed my imagination. During the day I was able to overcome this terror, but it returned with violence in my dreams ; and every morning, for many months together, I was awaked by palpU 336 Administration op palpitations of heart, which were one of the caufes of the diforder brought upon me by {o many anxieties and fufferings, and of which I mall never be cured. I have before obferved that I was not igno- rant when I formed at Bale the refolution to return into France, that I was going to place myfelf in the midft of the alarms I had already experienced, fince it was impoflible to enter on the full enjoyment of the new harveft till the expiration of three or four months. Mean- while another fort of obftacle had arifen during my abfence. The pillage of the convoys upon the Seine had been the confequence of the relaxation of public order; and the transfer of the functions of the police into the hands of a numerous municipality, originally ill con- flrucled, unexperienced in the arduous bu- iinefs of provifions, had annihilated the union of efforts neceffary in fuch an undertaking. Yet the municipality left it to government to take care to obtain from foreign countries the neceflfary fupply ; fo that the rcfponfibility of the minifter remained as before : nothing was diminifhed but his authority and hia powers. I faf Mr. Necker. 337 I fay nothing of the various artifices em- ployed to enhance the terror, and to give a deceitful appearance of plenty to the bakers fhops. I could only fpeak of this fubjeft upon report, for I never procured any accu- rate information refpecting it ; and I am not unaware that, in moments of famine or of fear, the defire which individuals entertain to fecure to themfelves a fupply frequently prompts them to the fame conduct as might have been dictated by a fpirit of monopoly or of male- volence. The wants of Normandy had dis- played themfelves in the moil alarming man- ner, and the law of neceflity had obliged Rouen and every town on the borders of the Seine, to flop, for their own fubfiftence, a confiderable part of the cargoes deftined ori- ginally for Paris. If therefore I had not by every needful precaution obtained foreign fuc- cour adequate to fo many demands ; if on my return from Bale in particular, I had not im- mediately fent fums of money into all parts to make new and large purchafes, Paris and the neighbouring provinces would infallibly have been defolated by the horrors of famine. The idea of fuch a diftrefs, added to the various other caufes of confufion and diforder which Z are V 338 Administration of are in the recollection of every man, prefcnts a complication of mifery the fpectacle of which is too much for the imagination to fupport. It was my deftiny however, after having by incredible efforts and at the rifle of my life fupplied the wants of France, that I mould lofe the good opinion of the inhabitants of Paris, becaufe the moment arrived when the bread, made entirely of foreign flour, had no longer its habitual quality. Yet was it pofli- ble in fuch long maritime tranfports that all our cargoes fhould efcape damage ? Was it poffible at the clofe of fo extenfive a tranfac- tion, when we had been obliged to collect the laft fweepings as it were of all the gra- naries in the two worlds, that no mouldy corn fhould fall to our lot ? They were complaints like thefe, and ac- cufations equally void of foundation, that were feized upon by certain manufacturers of libels, vile inventors of calumny and falfehood, to undermine my character with the nation at large. I difdained to anfwer them ; I felt that it would difgrace me to drag them from the obfeurity into which they were fure to fall. Their names and their works will be loft in the immenie lumber of ufelefs reams that Mr. NECKERi 339 that no man condefcends to open, though they fucceed, I know not how, to gain read- ers for a fingle day, and to poifon for the moment the public mindi The National Affembly narrowly infpects my whole adminiftration. They can enter it by a thoufand ways, and I am no longer prefent to make any refiftance. Let them fpeak ; it is to them alone I will give an anfwer. The dog of Albania, which Porus made a prefent of to Alexander, was for a long time accufed of pufillanimity; all the animals of ^ Afia were brought into the Circus, and he refufed to fight ; but when the lion appeared, he roufed himfelf, rufhed upon and defeated hirm The purchafe of corn, on the national ac- count, amounted from the date of autumn 1788 to an immenfe capital, and the lofs fuf- tained by the public treafury Was very confix derable. Government could not avoid volunta- rily making great facrifices. Corn gradually rofe in foreign countries to fo high a price that, when the expence of freight, rHk, da- mage, and the rate of exchange which was 2r a very v" 340 Administration op very unfavourable, were added, it was be- yond the abilities of the people, and to have infilled on their purchafing at fuch a price an indifpenfible commodity, would have been condemning them to perifh with mifery. Be- iide, in times of general diftrefs the people do not receive laws, they give them ; and under thefe circumftances it is prudent in govern- ment to confine its injunctions within the limits of its authority, and to take care not to betray the fecret of its weaknefs. To thefe caufes of lofs mould be added the numerous pillages in confequence of the anar- chy that prevailed in the month of July, and of the power of the people. On my return from Bale I found the greater part of the pofts along the Seine either forced or abandoned- It was neceflary to re-eftablifh them ; and this expence, together with that of convoys and armed veflels, mould be taken into the ac- count. The frequent neceflity of recurring to land carriage when the fupplies would admit of no delay, was another heavy bur- then to the treafury. We have to eft i mate alfo various indulgences to a great number of municipalities, that were unable, notwith- ftanding the low price at which corn was fold, 7 . to Mr. Necker. 341 to make up the whole of their payments. There was befide, in different quarters, and at Paris in particular, an immenfe quantity of rice diftributed gratis. In fhort, the confufion which frequently prevailed in the capital, and which immediately after the epocha of the I ith of July was extreme, obliged the admini- flration of the H6tel-de-Ville, to be lefs fevere and exact than was defirable, and the facrifices that political events made neceflary are well known. From thefe and other caufes infeparable from fo extenfive a tranfation, and at fo unfortunate a period, the lofs to the public treafury did not fall fhort of forty millions GC 1,666,666). But if every purchafe were made at the proper time and place ; if they did not exceed the demands, and were intrufted to foreign merchants equally honefl and inteU ligent ; if their accounts will bear the moft ri- gorous infpection ; if there were noabufes but fuch as human prudence could not guard againft ; if every part of the negociation may be examined, calculated and verified ; if com- mercial deputies have at my folicitation been long engaged in this enquiry, and a fpecial committee of the National AfTembly have % 3 united 342 Administration of ^united its knowledge to theirs; this lam, large as it is, cannot be objected to, unlefs the inves- tigation be accompanied at the fame time with a tariff of the nett valuation of the lives of many millions of men. The knowledge of the prodigious opera- tions I have been defcribing fhould not lead us to unjuft cenfure, but to a reflection of great importance both to the happinefs and welfare of the flate. The great expence of money and anxiety which a fingle year of dearth occar fions, fhould induce us never to permit without the matureft deliberation the unlimited expor- tation of corn. But as every reflriction on the liberty of this commerce diminifhes the cufto- mary price of a commodity the production of which constitutes the chief wealth of the foil, it feems to follow as a necefTary confequence, that while the ftate, for the fake of the public welfare, is obliged to reftrain the cultivators of the earth in the difpofal of their commodities, it ought not to impofe in a very heavy degree a tax upon the earth itfelf. This forbearance towards the proprietors is a fort of indifpen-r fible compenfation for the Sacrifice of liberty we demand from them. Another inference following from the fame principle Mr. Necker, 343 principle is, that in proportion as the exiftence of a fuperfluity in the kingdom to fupply the demand of unprodu&ive years is a ne- cefTary precaution, in the fame proportion it becomes us not to be too eager refpecting any other fpecies of cultivation. Let us take to- bacco for an example, and I obferve that the neceffity of importing this commodity from foreign countries for a period of ten years, has lefs influence upon the balance of commerce than a fingle year of dearth of the neceffaries of life. Nor is the truth of this obfervatiort limited to the mere proportion between the value of the imports of tobacco for ten years, and the value of the imports of corn in a fingle year of unfavourable harveft. It alfo involves another confideration of moment, that for all that you draw from a foreign country in purfuance of a regular and eftablifhed fyf- tem, you may contrive a reciprocal commerce that fhall balance the inconvenience ; but whatever you draw in an irregular and unex- pected way, muft inevitably be paid for in money. It is farther to be remarked, that France being the only kingdom in Europe that pur- chafes tobacco from her. neighbours, fhe can, efpecially if fhe employ but one factor, refift Z 4 the 344 Administration or the impofitions of thofe that fell ; but when fhe purchafes corn, other nations come into competition with her, and the irrefiftible na- ture of the demand obliges her to deal with them upon their own terms. Nothing can be more unjuft than to fuppofe that a fufficient fupply can always be obtained by a mere determination to protect the liberty of tranfporting corn from province to pro- vince. This can never happen when the fcantinefs of the harvelt infpires men with alarm ; and leaft of all when under the ftrange divifions and fubdivifions of authority that are now eftablifhed. The oath therefore impofed on the national guard, to protect this tranfport in its titmoft extent, is frivolous and nuga- tory ; they will neither have the power nor the will when the minds of men are filled with anxiety, when they mall perceive corn plenteoufly defcending from the fprings of our different rivers to the extremities of the kingdom, and never returning with a fimi- lar current towards the centre. Oaths are fuperfluous when they attempt to bear down the genuine fentiments of men at a time I f1 ie rifk of famine appears to be imminent, country under fuch circumftances becomes c and more contracted ; our province, our diftrift, Mr. Necker. 345 diftrift, our town, our corporation, and at laft perhaps our houfe and our family is the whole of our country. For all thefe reafons it is neceffary carefully to watch for the prefervation of a fuperfluity. Superfluity alone can keep the minds of men at peace. For fuch a purpofe it is juft to impofe a reftraint upon the exportation of corn, and of confequence juft to compenfate the effects of that reftraint by reducing within moderate bounds the amount of the tax that falls upon land. Such is the fyftem of ideas that experience fuggefts, and her leflbns are of a thoufand times more worth than the ima- ginary theories of political ceconomy. Thefe theories perpetually contradict each other; and the man who trufls to them can never diftin- guifh between their different claims, or tell to which of their oppofite arguments it becomes him to fubfcribe. I have thus reviewed the principal meafures of my adminiftration, and my talk is nearly finilhed. This will not be regretted ; for I am well aware that the prefent moment is not favourable to me, and I mould myfelf have found the journey tedious, if I had not in looking 346 Administration of looking back on paft events fometimes di- verted my attention by ufeful remarks or ge- neral obfervations. I wifh however, before I conclude, to ac- quit myfelf of a particular duty, and a duty tha't, I know not why, from the complexion of the times, it requires fome courage to fulfil. But while I trace my own claims on the na- tion, I mould think myfelf juftly chargeable with ingratitude or indifference, I mould think myfelf guilty of a crime for which I upbraid others, if I were deterred by the fear of a criticifm, clothed if you pleafe in the mod menacing form, that of ridicule, from men- tioning, in this my laft difTertation on public affairs, the continual cares of a faithful friend whofe every inftant has been confecrated to the doing good. Profane laughter difgraced the National Aflembly when, in the mod painful circumftance in my life, I mentioned for the firft time a name that fo many virtues ought to have rendered refpectable : but, in, defpite of their laughter, I feel fome pleafure in encountering anew that proud difdain, that fuperiority of tone which has little terror when it is in oppofition to the language of decency and rcaibn. I will fay then that ma- 5 dam Mr. Necker. 347 dam Necker laugh again, your public virtue, as yet in its infancy, will doubtlefs permit you ; laugh, Europe is fufficiently acquainted with your long and ferious examination of the moral life of Maria Therefa Levaffeur #, and miftakes in a matter of delicacy are in no danger of being imputed to you. The quick apprehenfions of a landfman are unintelligible to thofe who are accuftomed to the ocean. I will fay then that madam Necker has perhaps done more for the relief of calamity than any flatefman of us all ; and to put myfelf and my own fervices out of the queftion, her merits alone would feverely reproach your indiffe- rence. The formation and government of a houfe of charity, which has ferved as a model to many others, is by no means the only ac- tion of notorious virtue that belongs to my amiable friend. Her footfteps may be traced in hofpitals, in prifons, in infirmaries, in the miferable hiding-places where poverty and want have found their laft afylum. Her ac- tive beneficence is too copious for recital, and I mould fear to offend her if I attempted to i]efcribe it. She needs not the efteem and * Widow of J. J. RoufTeau. T. approbation. 548 Administration of approbation of mortals ; it is before another tribunal me has prepared to give in her an- fwer. I mail mention one circumftance more rela- tive to my own conduct, and I feel before^ hand a blufh fpread over my face. Yes, it is painful to me to fpeak it, and a ftrong feeling of the cenfure implied in the indifference of the National AfTembly could alone tempt me to (Jo it. I eftimate the circumftance below the moil trivial of my fervices ; but in the day of oppreffion we are pardonable perhaps if we omit nothing that is in our favour. I ferved the ftate feven years with the moil en- tire difintereftednefs ; and when I declare in this place that I refufed every emolument of office, 1 ought to add in anfwer to fome ma- licious infinuations, that in thefe emoluments I include not only the fixed ftipends, but alfo the various perquifites authorifed by ancient cuftom : that is to fay, independently of the falary of minifter of the finances, fixed till lately at two hundred thoufand franks ; inde- pendently of the falary of minifter of ftate, fixed at twenty thoufand ; independently of the pcnfions attached to thofe offices ; I have equally Mr. NecKer. 349 equally refufed, without exception or referve, both the annual perquifites of control an- nexed to the office of minifter of the finances; and the beakers of wine, always of a confiderable and frequently of a fcandalous amount, re- ceived by this minifter at the renewal of the leafes of the farmers general and of the regie ; and the cuftomary fervices upon entering into office ; and the prefents of the pays achats ; and the gold and filver medallions prefented at the beginning of every new year by the municipalities, corporations, and perfons hold- ing finecures in the treafury ; and the exemp- tion from duties upon the fabrication of fuch additional plate as is requifite in diftinguifhed fituations ; and the gratis boxes at the thea- tres ; and the allowance of wax_ candles, and other miferable particulars*. Nothing there- * I ought to mention that, from fentiments of refpecr. to the city of Parts, I accepted on the return of a new year, in the courfe of my firft adminiftration, a purfe of a hundred medallions of filrer, bearing the arms of the city, and amounting in value, it is fuppofed, to about forty or fifty crowns. I believe alfo, though I am not very fure, that l/ the ftates of Provence fent me two or three times fome of the fruits of their country, or a packet of coffee juft import- ed from the Levant. It is poflible that other trifles of this kind may have efcaped my memory j but they are not worth notice. fore 35 Administration op fore has ever fullied that pure difintereftednefi which I impofed on myfelf as a law : and at this moment, when no benefit is any longer to be expected from me ; when, to the fhame of France, the man who fhall attack me is fare to gain friends by it ; I defy any one, be he who he may, in adminiftration or out of ad- miniftration, to contradict in a fingle point the truth of my declaration; I defy any one to charge me with having had the fmalleft in- tereft in any tranfaction, the leaft concern in any fpeculation on the public funds or loans* or with the having placed any of my friends or relations either in the offices connected with my own department, or in thofe fubject to the nomination of the king's other mini- fters ; and I at this moment regularly pay cer- tain penfions, the expence of which 1 took upon myfelf in order to lighten to my heart the burthen impofed by the feverity of my principles. The National AfTembly therefore may fhew me what indifference it pleafes, I fhall equally remain in various ways a creditor of the ftate, and never was I more proud of this advantage, never did I enjoy it {o com- pletely. When every thing is contefted, when claims are more accurately inveftigated, and pretenfion* Mr. Nec ker, 351 pretentions undergo a new enquiry, we then have recourfe to our old parchments, and we find titles which had efcaped our memory, and which our litigious neighbours oblige us to bring forward. It has undoubtedly been fufficiently painful to me to enter into the details I have given. They however have their fhare in a general view of my public conduct, and in one refpect are perhaps entitled to the attention of the moralift. He will infer from them that no- thing fo much increafes the bitternefs of ani- mofity, or at leaft that nothing renders it fo loud in its inve&ivc, as the thus defending onefelf by a fcrupulous minutenefs from every plaufible attack. If this and that place be left open to cenfure, undoubtedly an out- cry will be excited againft the minifter ; but that outcry limits itfelf to a fingle point ; while on the other hand where all is clear, found and invulnerable, malignity makes an uninterrupted round, and, while it feeks in vain to difcover a fault, is attended in its pro- grefs by an echo loud in its effecT:, and irre- fiftible in its nature. I might alfo eflimate at fomething the loan of two millions four hundred thoufand livres which 352 Administration of which I advanced to the public treafury twelve years ago, and at the epoch of the commence- ment of the laft war. It was lent at five per cent, intereft, and during fo long a period it has encountered the moft critical and danger- ous circumftances ; but I would not call it in either during my administration, or on my retreat, or when loans bore a much higher intereft. I was fearful of giving the fignal of diftruft, and I have withftood the felicitations of my friends, who were uneafy at feeing fo large a portion of my property in one place. It was this depofit however, facred in fo many points of view, that one fection of Paris propofed lately to the other divifions to feize, if I did not in the fpace of three months make my appearance and account for the fums of money that had paffed through my hands. What blindnefs ! Is it poflible men mould be fo eafily deceived ? It is doubtlefs to me they owe an account, and an account that they will not find it eafy to draw up. Mine are all perfectly open, and for a long time have been enveloped in no myftery or obfeurity. The tongue of rumour would foon have pro- claimed it, had they afforded even the pretext for any fingular animadverfion ; and nothing I be- Mr. Neck ER. 353 I believe has efcaped enquiry. You may truft to the Argus eyes of the various com- mittees of finance. You may truft to thofe clerks, thofe fpies, who were made fure of fufficiently early. You may truft to thofe enemies, made fo by a long courfe of fevere meafures, as well as to men who, though without pafhon, are not lefs difpofed to pull down old idols, were it merely to offer the ruins as a teftimony of their new worfhip. It ought to be remembered that in the fecret fegifter, known by the name of the- Red Book, nothing could be found with which to re- proach me during the courfe of my two ad- miniftrations. My detractors felt a momen- tary hope, when they faw me oppofe the ardent curiofity that difplayed itfelf of exa* mining this regifter, in order to proclaim every fault which government might have committed. They could not, or they were unwilling to comprehend, that it. was the duty of a minifter, though perfectly unin- volved in thefe errors, to keep from the light the melancholy fecret; that it was his duty to cover them, if I may fo fay, with his mantle, at a time when their publicity could be pro- ductive of no advantage. What was gene- A a tous 3J4 Administration of rous in my conduct on this occafion fomd have difdained to perceive, and others have converted into reproach. One might fuppofe that there was no place in the hearts of men for any fentiment but that of hatred or re- venge. They are fentiments againft which my heart has ever been fhut. I know them not, nor do I wifh to know them. I feel at this moment all the weight of the injuftice and oppreflion that are exercifed againft me; but though I have a painful fenfe of the in- jury, my refentment is at the fame time free from all afperity. Sometimes when I am alone at the foot of thofe mountains where the ingratitude of the reprefentatives of the commons has banifhed me, and I hear the impetuous winds fhake my afylum and throw down the trees which fur- round it, I exclaim perhaps with king Lear : " Blow winds, rage, blow; I tax not yoa, " you elements, with unkindnefs ; I called " not you my children, I never gave you 44 kingdom." When I began this work, it feemed as if it would be filled with reproaches, and that I mould addrefs them to the whole nation; but as I call to mind the fcrviccs I have renr dered Mr. Necker. 355 tiered it, I recollect at the fame time the ho- nourable marks of efteem which it has mown towards me, and like the prophet, after having * come upon the mountain to curfe, I would ft ay there only to blefs* It is however necefTary, for the inflruclion of thofe who go full fail with the current and give thcmfelves up without diftruft to public favour, that I mould point out how near they are to rocks upon every fea. It will be feen, nor can I prevent it, with what feverity I have been treated by the National AfTembly, or rather by a fmall number of men who, having made themfelves its maflers, have infpired the minds of the AfTembly with all their pafllons, and who have thus clothed in their fcanty robes, what was moft grand and majeftic in idea, the united deputies of the greateft of nations. Thefe men were jealous, envious, vindictive, and they were defirous that all about them mould feel like themfelves: they were imperious, and they placed their firft yoke on the National AfTem* bly. Like another Popilius, they have drawn the circle of opinions and thoughts, beyond which they forbid it to pafs. The Aflembly A a 2 thus 356 Administration ot thus become captive, and the minifler ftilf proud and independent, could no longer pur- fue the fame path. He difengaged himfelf from himfelf that he might rife to general ideas and public fentiments, and be under no empire but that of reafon and juftice; the compliant Aflembly fubmitted to the politics of the day, to the will of its guides, and to their individual paflions. On my return from exile, I embraced the impulfe of affection and confidence which for a moment prevailed in my favour, to difpofe the minds of men to an act of public genero- fity, and a political meafure that would have been durable in its confequenee and produc- tive of univerfal advantage. Thofe who heard me at the H6tel-de-Ville joined with one accord in the fentiment that animated me, and the impreffion communicated on alt fides. But the leaders of the National AfTem^- bly faw only in my conduct and in its fortu- nate event, an afcendancy that was offenfive to them, and they entered into a refolution not only to make my hopes mifcarry, but to " deftroy my popularity;" and from that moment nothing was neglected that was likely to Mr. Necker. 357 to effeft this purpofe. The auxiliary army of news-writers, fabricators of libels, motion- makers in the different clubs, and hawkers, the correfpondents appointed to direct the fentiments of the different provinces, and all the claffes of their coadjutors, every fecret agent mitigated by the former, or fet on by the latter, were put in motion. Calumnies, lies, bafe infmuations, impoflible charges were the firft arms put into the hands of thofe whofe function it was to circumvent and de- flroy me. It was for the fmalleft piece of money, for a liard, for nothing indeed, that they vended every morning, with a loud noife and without obftacle, the raoft abomi- nable writings againft me, and to keep alive the curiofity of the people, they embellifhed them with the moft audacious and abulive titles. If the non-payment of a part of the taxes, or the payment of others in paper, obliged me to feek every where for coin, and to collect into the public treafury the quan- tity that was indifpenfible, either to purchafe the flour and cattle neceffary for the fupply of Paris, or to pay the wages of the multitude of men employed on works of charity, thefe cares on my part were interpreted into a A a 3 defign 358 Administration of defign of collecting all the money into the treafury in order to excite I know not what revolution. If money was fent from Paris by the treafurers of the army and navy for the pay of the troops, and for the works carry- ing on in the port of Breft, I was accufed of wifhing to fend all the coin out of the king- dom. If I had the courage and honefty to de- fend the claims of the creditors of the count /d'Artois, or at leaft to explain the original engagement that was made with them, I had fome fufpicious connexion with that prince. If I recommended juftice and lenity towards opprefled citizens, I thought of their interefts only, and was in league w T ith them. If I fpoke in the name of the king with modera- tion, but at the fame time with dignity, I fought to reftore defpotifm. If I was unable to make out by the appointed day all the accounts demanded of me, I was defirous of concealing robberies and peculations. In fhort, the purchafes I made in foreign coun- tries of corn and flour, thofe fupplies due to my vigilance and which faved us from famine, were fometimes reprefented as the caufe of dearnefs, and fometimes as a monopoly. The moft important fervices were converted into Mr. Necker. 359 into crimes by the facrilegious pencil of men to whom the people Hftened, whom they believed, and whom perfons in authority per- mitted to write morning and evening, and to declaim in public every hour of the day. It happened to me, as to many others, to perceive in the corner of a ftreet a crowd of wretched objects who, while they gave a fa- vourable ear to the orator appointed to read a libel in which my reputation was fhamefully mangled, were devouring at the fame time the bread which they held in their handsli* and which in general had been obtained through my cares and afliduity. How vile the plot, the chief object of which is to make the people ungrateful ! It is fowing with tares a field that of itfelf would have produced falutary fruit ; it is contending openly againft the great views of morality ; it is doing an evil the bounds of which cannot be afcer- tained, for we know not how clofely all the virtues are connected together, and how they reciprocally fupport eacli other, fo that free- dom from reftraint in one inftance is fome- times productive of general depravity. In the month of Auguft 1789 I propofed a A a 4 neceffary 360 Administration of necefTary loan, and I mewed how important it was that this firft refort to national credit fhould be fignalized by the zeal of the lenders. I mentioned alfo five per cent, as the intcreft which was defirable on many accounts. The AfTembly however defpifed my opinion and experience, they felt a fecret pleafure in cen- furing and condemning me in an article re- flecting which I might be fuppofed to be moft competent; and they fixed the intereft at four and halC The event did not juftify this deter- mination. The loan mifcarried, the difficulties of government were confiderably increafed by it, and they thus exhibited to all Europe, what ought to have been concealed, the limits of national credit, and the difcord that was fpringing up between the AfTembly and the minifler. I prefented to the AfTembly my portion of the patriotic contribution, I fignified to them that it exceeded the eftablifhed valuation. Of this circumftance they took not the fmallefl notice, at the fame time that the flighted prefent from the moft fortuitous giver was received with acclamations. Well, this I will fuppofe is of no moment : but I go on, and I excite Mitj Necker. 361 excite my former countrymen to difplay their liberality upon the prefent occafion. They readily adopt the fuggeftion ; the defire of difplaying their efteem and friendihip for me contributes, by their own confeffion, to infpire this conduct. I fignify to the Aflembly with fentiments of exultation a firft offer on their part of nine hundred thoufand livresj and the Affembly, after having received fimilar teftimonies of refpecT: from many other fo- reigners, are fuddenly fmit with a fcruple; and the unprecedented proceeding they adopt, with refpecl; to an offer of which I had been the prompter and the inftrument, is an abfo- lute refufal. * On the firft appearance of dearth a com- mittee of provifions was inftituted by the Af- fembly ; but it was fuffered to . fall to the ground the moment they perceived the dan- gers that were connected with this delicate tranfaction. They were defirous of fharing in no refpecl: with the minifter in refponfibi- lity, and they fatisfied themfelves with re- ceiving certain accufations, the falfehood and abfurdity of which they could not fail quickly to difcover. The 362 Administration of The committee of finances acted equally, from a fpirit of examination and enquiry but when I urged them to participate in the juft apprehenfions of government, they abfo- lutely refufed to take the fmalleit (hare. They propofed indeed, whenever they pleafed, ge- neral regulations without my knowledge, and which frequently increafed the embarraflments of the moment ; but they prudently kept themfelves clear of all real difficulties. The king, influenced by the reafons I pre- fented to him, urged the Aflembly to confent to the appointment of a board of direction to the treafury, the members of which were to be chofen by his majefty from the reprefenta- tives of the nation. Nothing could be more conformable to the public good ; nothing was better calculated to maintain a gocd under- standing between the legiflative body and ad- miniftration. But the AfTembly wiihed to avoid alfo this kind of refponfibility, as long as difficulties fubfifted, and the danger bore upon me ; whereas, when I was no longer involved, and the creation of a confiderable quantity of affignats, of all fums, afforded a iupply to the treafury for a long time to come, 4 and Mr. jtf ec ker. 363 and reduced its management to the fimple diftribution of money, the committee of finances feized upon the entire control of this department. Account upon account, notes upon notes, ftatement after ftatement were demanded of me ; and if the perfons under me were inca-* pable of fo much labour, in addition to the regular bufinefs of office, a murmur was ex- cited upon the leaft delay, and the Aflembly feemed to lie in wait for the moil trivial pre- text in order to raife an outcry againft me. Thefe accounts were afterwards criticifed; the mod dexterous undertook to embroil the mat- ter, and I was compelled to explanations, an- fwers, and difcuflions without end. Every in- formation which the Aflembly, diftracted by a thoufand different occupations, could not retain in their memory, they believed that they had never received ; and while men of every country the leaft accuftomed to affairs of this nature, perfectly underftood the fitua- tion of our finances, the National Aflembly feemed to be ignorant of it, and care was taken to fill the minds of the public with ideas <j conformable to this opinion. It 364 Administration of It was in this manner the people fpoke of me through the greater part of the king- dom " We loved him ; we would have fa- u crificed our lives for him; but our fenti- " ments changed when we were told that he ' had embezzled the property of the nation." ~ '* But how can you believe this ? " it was faid in reply. a Oh ! it i6 certain ; we have " feen it in print ! " Such was the effecl: of thofe libels the circulation of which was every where tolerated and encouraged ; this is what the people were led to believe of a man who had ferved the ftate with a difin- tcreflednefs and generofity that are unexam- pled. But the people, it is faid to me, will one day be convinced of their error. Yes, when I mail be no more, and malignity fhall have exhauftcd all its venom. In the month of July 1790 I laid before the National AiTembly an immenfe account of the whole receipt and expenditure from the firft of May 1789 to the firft of May 179^. By a furprifing effort of induftry this work, in the midft too of the current bufinefs, was completed in three months. Yet who has not heard of the complaints of the Mr. Necker. $6f the Aflfembly refpe&ing the delay of this Very account ? and when it was received, fo little was the attention paid to it that many of the deputies demand it again at this mo- ment, and no one is aftonifhed that no report has been made upon it. They are examining it, it is faid. But if the fixty deputies that compofe the committee of finances require more than eight months to verify this ac- count, can they be angry that a fingle indivi- dual mould have employed three in drawing it out ? To the fortunate every thing fuc- ceeds ; or, to fpeak with fincerity, the argu- ments of the flrongeft are always the beft. What fhall I fay more ? Millions upon millions have been under my care and direc- tion during the fpace of feven years, and not a fingle reproach could be made againft my ceconomical management; and yet at the epoch of the creation of affignats, the Na- tional Aflembly took it fuddenly into their heads that they would not fend thefe bills to the public treafury. They diftributed them fparingly, fometimes once a month, fometimes once a fortnight, and fometimes once a week; and this precaution was em- ployed 366" Administration op ployed refpecling the man whom all Europe would perhaps have wifhed as the fecurity of the National AfTembly itfelf. In the mean time, always confiftent in their way, the AfTembly, upon every demand of thefe affignats, exprefled their aftonifhment and anger, and exclaimed loudly againft it* It was with difficulty that the men of good fenfe in the committee of finances could make them underftand that, the wants of the ftate being once known and eftablilhed, it was neceflary to pay them with the money that had been created. It is remarkable that after my retreat, though the wants of the ftate Were greater, every thing went on eafily. To give a colour to this it is faid, that at length the AfTembly had the accounts made out upon their own plan : but the fame per- fon who did this bufinefs under me, does it ftill ; his method was found to be a judicious one, and it underwent no alteration. The declaimers in the National AfTembly have perhaps never read thefe accounts, they have not had time ; it is therefore from men and not meafures that they judge. One Mr. Necker* 367 One might have fuppofed that the Affem- bly, perfevering in its fpirit of criticifm, would have found an occafion of praifing fome part of my conduct, a fingle trait at leaft of my adminiftration. But never has the fmalleft eulogium efcaped it. Its own receipts in this way have been immenfe, and immenfe has been the gratification it has derived from them ; yet they are careful not to deal out the fmalleft pittance to the minifter, or make him happy for a moment. This parfimony is not fufficient : they repeat every inftant the abufes of paft times, and inveigh againft thefe abufes in the moft vehement language. Ju tice might demand that they mould give to every one his due, and that an honourable diftinction mould be accorded to thofe who have merited it ; but they carefully avoid it> and, what is worfe, they allow themfelves to eftablifh their unjuft conduct into principles. " The committee," it is the committee of pen- fions that fpeaks, " has admitted of no cefla- " tion in this great enquiry into minifterial " dilapidations ; it has traced them through " all the different papers, documents and " journals in which it could be difcovered, *' without concerning itfelf as to who was "the 368 Administration of < the minifter : it was dilapidation, not mgrtj " that was the object of their dete&ion. If 1 " it mould ever be thought advifable to call *' to an account any of the minifters who " have fat at the helm fince 1 774, then in- ** deed thofe minifters may quarfel as much t as they pleafe, and endeavour to throw off " the fault from one to the other. The com- " mittee of penfions has kept aloof from " thefe perfonal debates." What a principle of legiflation is this ! "Whenever a cenfure is to be paffed upon the fervants of the execu- tive government, they prefer taking a certain number of years in the mafs, that they may fubjedl fucceflive adminiftrations, virtuous or prodigal, alike to the gripe of their bloody talons, leaving it to the individuals to fettle among themfelves how far the wounds they have received are truly deferved. " It is for " them," fays the committee of penfions, " to M quarrel as much as they pleafe, and endea- " vour to throw the fault from one to the " other." What fupercilious haughtinefs ! Nothing but its abfurdity can diminifh its feverity. But it is thus, fometimes with more and fometimes with lefs indifference, that the committees and orators of the National Affem- bly Mr. Necker, 369 bly have expreffed themfclves upon the arti* cle of minifters. Civility they probably re* gard as an ariftocratical accomplifhment. They gave the name of minjfterial infolence to fome wife and moderate obfervations which I addreffed to them ; yet thefe obfervations were accompanied with deference and ho- mage both to the induftry and talents of the Affembly. But it is true that 1 have always felt the dignity that is infeparable from a virtuous man, who by the feelings of his heart is united to fomething ftill greater than earthly authority. I have alfo never loft fight of the majefty becoming in him who fpeaks in the name of the chief of the empire, and I have always been mindful of the rank which the king fhould hold in the affairs of ftate. Thefe feelings, which were ftrong in my breaft, doubtlefs raifed the flyle of my difcourfcs above the language which the National Af- fembly was accuftomed to hear* There has been a uniform policy in the conduct of this Affembly. They wifhed every thing to be their work, every thing to exift by their inftrumentality. Minifters B b there- 370 Administration of therefore who had a little reputation of their own could not be agreeable to them ; and I have great reafon to believe that but for the agitation of the city of Paris and of the kingdom, and but for the fervid eloquence of M. de Laily, they would have permitted me quietly to fink into oblivion at the time of my exile 1 1 July. When the deputies firffc met at Paris this difpofition was not yet formed. But the fear which each of them felt of injuring his influence by any intercourfe with minifters quickly difcovered itfelf ; and perfonal con- fiderations thus overbore the natural de- fire that ought to have exifted in the repre- fentatives of the nation to unite themfelves in j every way with the firft defender of liberty, and the fi rmeft friend of the people. In fhort, I perceived too plainly that the chiefs of the National Aflembly, and thofe of the ruling club at Paris, were impatient to fee me out of office ; and- to effect my resignation fome lie was every day invented, or fome plot concerted. Twice the project was form- ed of attacking my houfe. I am not afto- nifhed at the plots of the malignant ; but that the National Aflembly fhould be informed of 7 thefe Mr. Necked 371 thefe plots, without interfering ; that they fhould openly tolerate incendiary writers, and fupport them in the habit of mifleading as they pleafe the minds of the people, and ex- citing them to the mod violent outrages ; is a proceeding beneath animadverfion, and of which we can only exprefs our opinion by filence. At three different intervals I informed the AfFembly of my intended retreat from office. The ftate of my health* the only motive I alleged, drew from them no token of fym- pathy ; and when, the day after an infurrec- tion that obliged me to quit my houfe, and which was the laft drop of the bitter cup I had fo long been forced to drink, I fpoke in a more precife manner of my approaching departure for the waters ; when I informed them at the fame time, that I mould after- wards retire to my eftate, the raoft perfect filence reigned in the AiTembly, and they called for the order of the day. Thus the utmoft indifference and moil pointed difdain were the only anfwer received from the re- V prefentatives of the nation by him who, dur- ing the courfe of feven years, had made every facrifice to the ftate that could be expected B b 2 from 372 ADMINISTRATION OF from man. I might have claimed more on the fcore of mere pity ; and fuch treat- ment, (o little expected after fo many fervices, has made an impreffion on my heart that will remain for ever. It rauft make a blot in hiftory either for the Aflembly or for me, and in either cafe I fee only mif- fortune. It was impoflible after this treatment, un- paralleled in the hiftory of mankind, that I could any longer defer my retreat. I how- ever remained a whole week at Paris in the midft of all the outrage of calumny and de- teftation, in the midft of the inexorable vio- lence that an infernal induftry excited againft me. I ftill was weak enough to expect that fome repentance, fomejuftice, fome fympathy would be exerted towards me. At laft I fet out ; no one perfon condefcending to partake of the ftruggles of my bofom, and the anguifh of my heart. I fet out : the letters had gone before me that breathe a contagion of hatred, injuftice, and perfecution, and teach the provinces to be cruel and unfeeling like their writers. As rapid in their effects as the wand of Medea, they appeafe and revive the furies at their pleafure. I had foon a proof of Mr. Ne c ker. 273 of their malignant influence. I refted for a few moments in the poft-houfe of the little town of Arcis-fur-Aube, free from diflruft, when prefently I faw a crowd of people make their appearance, and a number of armed men who entered my apartment. They began with afking me for my parTports. I had three, befides a particular billet of the king. I fhewed them. The municipality and the dis- trict found them to be regular ; but fome infti- gators of tumult perfuaded the national guard to think otherwife, and violence was tri- umphant. Madam Necker and myfelf were conducted, between a file of mufketeers, to an inn that was afligned us, and where it was at firft their intention to keep us apart from our people ; but they contented them- felves afterwards with fixing a guard at the door of the inn, and prohibiting us all inter- courfe with any one ; and that no precaution might be neglected they placed a corps de garde under us. I expreffed a defire of writ- ing to the National Aflembly : it was granted, but upon condition that none of my attend- ants mould carry the letter. It was intrufted to two citizens of Arcis, who, on their ar- rival, concerted with fuch members of the B b 3 AfTem- 374 Administration of Affembly as were moft inimical to me. They fixed the day and hour when my letter mould be delivered to the Affembly. A debate took place in which all the venom of impotent malice difcovered itfelf : the Affembly how- ever at laft confented that I fhould be in- dulged with the rights of man, and that no obftacle fhould be oppofed to my journey, though they carefully abftained from any cenfure upon the national guard of Arcis. They were fearful that the prefident, who was a man of integrity, might adopt in hi$ anfwer a flyle bearing fome refemblance to that of gratitude; and as one or two der puties had been fo daring as to hint at thank- ing me for my fervices, it was exacted of the prefident that he fhould communicate his let- ter before he fent it away, and he was obliged, contrary perhaps to his private fentiments, to confine himfelf to the rigorous terms that were impofed upon him. Conduct like this on the part of the Affem- bly fcems to furpafs imagination. Was it to me they refufed a word of gratitude, and were afraid of addreffing a fingle expreffion of civi- lity ! One might be led for a moment to fup* pofe that the approbation of their High Mighti- ft Mr. Necker. 375 MightinefTes was an extraordinary act of condefcenfion, unprecedented in their new- records ; but I have not this confoiation : the AfTembly diftribute fuch favours with the utmoft readinefs; the fmalleft muni- cipalities .and a multitude of individuals have received them, and are ftill receiving them every day. I remember, among other in- ftances, to have feen a vote of thanks formally decreed to an officer of the national guard, who had arretted an individual profcribed by the committee of refearch, or who had (imply difcovered the place where he was fecreted. If we judge from the common laws of grati- tude, there is furely fomething objectionable in this mode of difpenfing juftice, and the fyftem of retribution obferved by the AfTem- bly ftands in need of improvement. I quitted Arcis-fur-Aube, which regrets perhaps at prefent the manner in which it treated me ; and reinforced by a fourth pafT- port, that of the National AfTembly, I conti- nued my journey. On my arrival however at Vefoul I was again interrupted by the peo- ple ; they flopped my carriage, cut the traces of my horfes, ufed the moft menacing lan- guage, and it was with difficulty I efcaped B b 4 from 376 Administration of from their blind fury. In the evening my fervants ran a ftill greater rifk. The popu- lace feized them tumultuoufly, tore the trunks from their chaife, broke open the locks, and ranfacked every thing they contained. From the infide of the houfe in which thefe acts of iniquity were perpetrated, they cried to the mob without " Stay a little, (lay, we will " inform you the moment we have found any <c thing." Thus they wanted only a pretext to proceed to the greateft exceffes. Fortu- nately they were difappointed ; the papers were a packet of letters received by me for fome time paft and expreffive of gratitude or friendfhip ; and the manufcript books were accounts of my houfehold expences. My people were therefore allowed to depart ; but for the fpace of near five hours they con- ceived themfeives between life and death, and in the midft of their peril they bound them- feives by vows which, immediately on their deliverance, they were eager to fulfil. I muft do juilice to the municipality of Ve- foul, and the department of Haute-Saone, from whom I received the moft obliging testimonies of regret : but in Franche-Comte, in Champagne, and perhaps every where, fubordi- Mr. Necker, 377 fubordination is by no means kept up in the order eftablifhed by the National AfTembly ; frequently their intentions are reverfed, the people command the national guard, the na- tional guard the municipality, the municipa- lity the .diftricl:, and the diftrict the depart- ment. The reafon is, that an abftradl method, a mere arrangement of fcale above fcale, is not fufficient, as I have already obferved, for the maintenance of public order. Meanwhile thefe new outrages, like thofe of Arcis-fur- Aube, though well known to the deputies whofe bufinefs it is to bring accufations be- fore the National AfTembly, were overlooked. Rumour in vain gave intelligence of them ; from indifference to me the AfTembly disre- garded them ; and the greatefl diforders were pardoned in favour of the motives in which they originated. What a feries of injuflice ! What could the National AfTembly propofe to itfelf by all this contempt ? Did it imagine that the repu- tations of men were alfo at its difpofal ? But the columns of truth, which are the fupport of reputation, are not fo eafily moved as the benches of the feigneurs in their parifhes. 5 The 378 Administration op The Affembly mull therefore renounce th project of deftroying this kind of diftinction and fuperiority ; they cannot efface its he- raldry; they cannot even apply to it that elegant word formerly , the ingenious inven- tion of the prefent moment. Reputation, that fingular fpecies of property, is not fub- ject to the verification of legiflative authority, and time alone can afcertain its titles. Let the Affembly watch over its own reputation ; and in the midft of the applaufes of the mo- ment and the eulogiums by which it is in- toxicated, let it not forget that renown has an immenfe fpace to travel over, and that fome preparation is neceflary for fo long a journey. The Affembly affumes to itfelf the power of afiigning to every man his place : and to fome it mews an unjuft indifference for real fervices ; to others it erects ftatues for ab- flractions fimilar to its own, eloquence ex- cepted. It conceives that it has acquired the right of extending its mandates even to the opi- nions of generations unborn ; and that, like another Saint Bernard, it can parcel out the domain of futurity. It conceives, in mort, that all fucceeding ages are under its fole em- pire : and I, writing in the character of a private Mr, Necker, 379 private citizen, do not doubt to erect a monu- pient upon which fhall be infcribed the Na- tional Affembly with this label, never to be obliterated from it as long as time mail endure > They have been guilty of ingratitude. ~~ "^ I purfued my journey, and jn many towns I received the mod affecting demon- ftrations of attachment ; a certain proof that the errors of the people are the refult of an impreffion remote from their own feelings: and this impreffion differs in proportion to the credit and character of thofe who, in the midft of the Affembly or the clubs of the capital, take up on them every where to die- tate to opinion, and who are encouraged in maintaining with all their efforts this import- ant fupremacy. A reflection prefents itfelf to my mind upon this fubject. There is no power fo terrible as that which poffeffes the means of flirring up the people, and which keeps itfelf at the fame time in obfeurity. In the dates which are governed by the molt defpotic au- thority there is nothing half fo alarming. The fultan and vifir know the extent of their vengeances, and perceive the dangers to which they expofe themfelves by the frequent repeti- tion 380 Administration of tion of their unjuft feverities : but thofe who have it in their power to excite the madnefs of the people by whifpers and inuendos, are abfolutely ignorant of the extravagance to which that madnefs may proceed. Its very abiurdity and excefs contribute to their ac- quittal before any tribunal but that of con- fcience. While they are contented to hold a language that excites men to mifchief, its perpetual courfe and its frightful vehemence feem not to be imputable to them; they withdraw and conceal themfelves as foon as the firft impreflion is given, and are regaled from their hiding-place with the fpectacle of the calamity they have occafioned. I know therefore of no influence the application of which is at oncefo daftardly and fo formidable ; I know of no men more dangerous than thofe whofe malignity vents itfelf in trTis manner. It would be better for us that heaven mould arm them with its thunder : placed in the midft of clouds, they would equally efcape our view ; but with their awkward hands they would not always ftrike virtue and innocence. There are perhaps at this moment ten thou- fand peribns in the kingdom, who, without involving themfelves, and without being per- ceived. Mr. Necker. 381 ceived, are able to excite the people againft an honeft man. It is fufficient that he has by his conduct, or his lituation, given the fmall- eft pretext for infinuations of the nature of thofe whofe influence is now univerfally felt. Meanwhile, in comparifon with fuch an au- thority, what is the council of ten at Venice, which is fpoken of with fo much terror ? The events of Vefoul, thofe of Arcis-fur- Aube, the dangers I actually encountered, and thofe which were prepared for me in other places, obliged me to abandon my de- ilgn of vifiting the waters of Plombieres, and to repair with all expedition toaToreign land, the land which I had quitted fourteen months before again to ferve France and its inhabi- tants. What inconftancy of events ! what viciflitude of human life ! How unhappy mould I be had my character been more worthy when I was borne in triumph by the people, than in the days when they .thus cruelly perfecuted me ! But from the teftimony of my confcience I can fay, that the laft year of my adminiftration is the period of which , I retain the molt honourable recollection. There J 382 Administration op There ftill remained one injury more to brf heaped upon me, that of calumniating the mo- tives of my retreat. By a Angularity that ha* no example, it was Warned in that very aflem- bly where a perfect filence prevailed when I informed them of it ; in that aflembly from whom a fingle word of kindnefs might per- 1 haps have induced me to depart from my refolution. They were aware of this, at leaft thofe who dictated to them this filence were afraid of it ; they aimed at two objects at once, by all forts of ill treatment and neglect to oblige me to retire, and then to feize upon the very refignation they neceflitated me to make as a new topic of calumny. He ought not to have abandoned the king. Yes, malig- nant calumniators, while you held this lan- guage you knew how to find the path to my heart; you knew how to give that direction to the poignard that mould make the wound infufferably painful ! But I call upon thofe who are moft forward with this accufation maturely to confider whether, deftitute as I was^of the obligation by which they arc bound, that of the benefits they have received and the gratitude they owe, I have not fhown the mofl unreferved attachment to the perfon of the king, Mr. Necker. 383 king, an attachment that may boldly challenge comparifon and rivahhip. 9 After my firft re- fignation, to which I was forced, after having been twice exiled, I again returned to pay to the king the homage of my zeal, and placed^ myfelf in the midft of the ftorms with which the throne was furrounded. I mould to this hour have been in his majefty's council, if I had not been deprived of the power of ferving him. But when the National AfTembly had for fome time abandoned me, I repeatedly informed the king that I could no longer be ufeful to him, and that his intereft required that I mould withdraw. I was become the mere point of fight that ferved to guide the eye of the affembly in difcharging the arrows of difcontent, when the collection of the taxes experienced delay, when a fcarcity of coin occafioned embarraffments, when the price of bread did not fall with fufficient rapidity, and when other events, the effect of neceffity or of the proceedings of the Affembly itfelf, ex- cited on the part of the people remonftrances and complaints. It was undoubtedly for the advantage of the king that no one mould remain near his perfon who was become by habit a fort of fecurity to the public opinion for 384 Administration op for meafures the direction of which was now placed in other hands. It was for his advan- tage that this illufory fecurity fhould not exift for the fole purpofe of interrupting the refponfibility of the aflembly towards the nation, of the governors towards the govern- ed. Without doubt thefe reafons, and per- haps other reafons befide thefe, prefented themfelves to the mind of the king, fince, not- withstanding the friendly manner in which he had always treated me from the period of my return from Switzerland, he did not at this time difcover any wifh that I fhould remain longer in his fervice. It becomes me to obferve that the bloody fcenes of Nancy, and the impofTibility under which the executive government laboured of putting a flop to diforders in their origin, had led me to prefage the rigorous meafures that would become necefTary, and I doubted whether a minifler could in propriety and confcience have any concern in recommending this rigour, when, according to his opinion, every thing might have been prevented by a clofer obfervance of the principles of juftice and moderation, by giving greater authority to the executive power, and by eftablifhing more Mr. Ne cke r. 385 more equitable divifions in the graduated fcale of fubordination. Such is the natural confti- tution of my mind) that, in the ordinary fituations of life, my heart can with difficulty form itfelf to the feverity that is frequently necefTary ; but the hardeft of all deftinies is that of being the mere executioner of a vengeance the object of which is to fupport a fet of dictatorial opinions, in the digeftion of which you have yourfelf no fhare*, and whofe fanction is rendered an unmeaning form by the unfavourablenefs of the fituation of the king and his council. I perceived alfo the diminution of my cre- dit in the council. This diminution was natural, as in lofing my popularity I loft my influence ; and as minifters, from the fevere * Thefe were not principles that I had lately adopted. In my firft admini fixation I refigned becaufe, while the obligation was impofed on me of furnifliing refources for the war, I was refufed a fitting in the political delibe- rations, and the power, which I demanded, of watching efficacioufly over the expences of the two departments of the army and navy. I was defirous of aflifting in the council in order to fecond the return of peace, after hav- ing made ufelefs efforts to prevent war i but then, as now, competitions and jealoufi.es had often more efficacy than the defxre of the public good. C c refpon* 3S6 Administration of refponfibility impofed on them, and of which they were every inftant reminded by the ArTembly, had acquired the power of acting, each in his department, as they thought proper. They however, as well as the mini- fter of finance, were mere machines moved by the hand of the National AfTembly, or of its committees ; and I mult confefs that I have nothing in my nature appofite to this fitua- tion, or that mould incline me to ferve fo many mafters. The National AfTembly, if you look at it from a certain diflance, prefents a fort of general picture to the mind ; but when examined more nearly and directed in its conftituent parts, you find it made up of individuals whofe education, whofe character and manners have little in them that accords with the pride of legiflative dictation, and obedience to fuch an affembly is converted into a very painful duty. In fhort, though I fcarcely know why, the habitual contrail between the imperious feverity of the National AfTembly and the fervile pomp of the minifters of the king, renders office infupportable to men of a certain character. It is true we have feen princes and generals chained in former times to the triumphal car of Roman citizens ; but thefe Mr. Necker. 387 thefe citizens were warriors who had filled the univerfe with the noife of their exploits ; thefe citizens were a Marcellus, a Scipio, an Emilius. We were therefore but imperfectly prepared by fuch an example to fee in the prefent day the AfTembly, with a renown as yet in expectation, and by a power obtained and preferved without danger, place on the necks of minifters a degrading yoke, and tell them continually of punifhment, of perfonal refpohfibility, of anfwering with their heads, and other menaces of a fimilar nature. It is aftonifhing how men can be found fufficiently pliant to bear with this rudenefs, or good- natured enough to fubmit without repugnance to fuch political indignities*. I had * When I wrote this paragraph, the conftant language of the AfTembly refpecting the king's minifters was car- ried, I conceived, to the utmoft ftretch of indecorum. But I have juft feen in the public papers the penal code read in the AfTembly the 7th of April, in the name of the con- stitution committee. This committee muft derive great pleafure from chaining, in imagination, the king's mini- fters fometimes to the oar and fometimes to the pillory, in their character of public functionaries. I congratulate it on, thefe fublime and beautiful ideas ; they agree wonderfully with another national proceeding of the fame day, that of accepting the offering prefented to the. AfTembly by the C c 2 united 388 Administration op I had long experienced the unpleafantnefs of fuch a fituation ; but my courage did not for- fake united body of public executioners. Thefe men may well afford fome facrifice, as a rich harveft feems to be pre- paring for them. It is reafon, the committee will fay, genuine unadulte- rated reafon, of which we have made the difcovery, that, placing all men on a level before our eyes, dictates to us to receive, in full aflembly, the homage of the executioners of juftice equally with that of every other clafs of citizens, and to treat with the fame ignominy the minifters of the fovereign and the vileft criminals. This is doubtlefs the end to which all thofe abftradtions lead that ferve as rudi- ments to the legiflators of France. They confider them as new difcoveries, whereas they are only elementary princi- ples dripped of all their acceffary ideas ; and the ideas which are thus difcarded were the united refult of the light of experience, of the fentiment of fitnefs, and the comprc- henfion of genius. It is thus that the peacock, when robbed of all its beau- tiful plumage, may be exhibited at the fair as a non-de- fcript animal. It has never been difputed that executioners were mem- bers of fociety ; but good fenfe had taught us to hold them in difparagement, that the moral effect of punifhment might be thereby increafed, and the painful neceflity of corporeal inflictions be diminifhed. It has never been difputed that minificrs were fimple citizens ; but good fenfe had taught us to incrcafe their confideration in every poflible way, that, from this moral effect Mr. Necker. 389 fake me, becaufe I could from time to time ad- drefs to the National Aflembly fome rational obfervations : but thefe obfervations became efFecl: of the power of adminiftration, modes of conftraint and feverity might be lefs requifite. The confideration of thefe ideas, which are fufceptible of infinite modifications, would foon convince us of the infufficiency of abftradr, principles for the government of an empire. Thefe pretended original truths are like the pieces of ftone drawn from the quarry ; no architect will make ufe of them in a building till the rule and the chifel have been applied to them. It is alfo from fhort-fightednefs, confecrated indeed in the declaration of rights, that equality of pains is con- founded with equality of puniihments. They are two ideas perfectly diitind. Inflict the pillory, I blufh at making ufc of fo degrading an expreflion, inflict this pain on a man who, by his fituation, his manners and habits, is almoft in- different to opinion, and he will perhaps find the punifh- ment fupportable; but fubjedl to the fame difgrace a man who, by his education and rank in the world, has been all his life influenced by ideas of honour and efteem, and you wiil punifh him in a very different manner, fince he would prefer a thoufand deaths to this infamy. We fee every day greater contempt thrown on the agents of the executive power; and yet the AfTembly tell us, that they wifh this power to exift, and that fomething ftiould remain of royal majefty 1 I know not how far they mean to go, nor will I afk either the AfTembly or the Nation j both are as yet equally ignorant of the fecret. C c 3 odious, 390 Administration of odious, and the time arrived when it was na longer poffible to have any communication with them but by praifes and the rnoft unqualified deference. My feelings as little accorded with the extravagant ideas that were every where dhTeminated, and the wild fyftem which they contrived fhould triumph. This was known, and at all events the AfTembly wifhed me to withdraw. It was my duty to do fo ; 1 was no longer fit for my office, or in a moment of pride I might fay, my office was no longer worthy of me. 1 had as it were outlived the principles which had long been held in ho- nour, and a retreat without fpot was the object to which it became me to afpire. Yes, my heart feels the conviction that I am no longer of this world. Moderation is pro- fcribed on all fides, and it is not poffible to ap- pear but under fome colours. A plume of fea- thers, or a cockade, muft be difplayed by every one who would not be a fugitive, and even the minifter of the king is required to wear thefe badges of party diftindlion. Some de- mand of him that his efforts be directed to the fupport of the royal authority ; others, that he fhould take advantage of the confidence placed in him by the monarch to rob the throne of it* laft Mr. Necker. 391 lad pageantry. And the friends of reafon are fo cold and difpaffionate that they have not courage enough in the midft of the extrava- gances of their compatriots to mark out a route of their own. The march ofwifdom and virtue is no longer underftood ; its orbit is ever a circle the centre of which is immu- table; of confequence, to men of a party unable to maintain themfelves in a uniform fituation upon the meridian of the paffions, it appears eccentric and irregular. Thefe paffions have undergone a thoufand revolutions, and will continue to undergo ftill more ; while the man / who is regulated by virtue and truth, is to-day {Jtnf, what he was in times that are pait, and what [ a future period and a different fituation will find him. Thus it is that I have remained un- changed, and that the fickle multitude have preferred every new acquaintance and given credit to every ftranger as the only genuine ad- vocate of liberty. There was a time when I flood alone in the midft of a court, with no party to fupport me, with no companion to relieve me, with no model to imitate; in a pe- riod of war and a ftate of calamity, in which republicans themfelves have been accuftomed to give a temporary exiftence to arbitrary au- C c 4 thority ; 392 Administration op thority ; and at this time I was the firfi: openly to profefs the generous fentiments of reafonable liberty. I held a language hitherto unknown ; I refilled the defpotifm of the great ; I took in hand the caufe of the people. At that time what were the greater part of thofe perfons doing who now make fo oftenta- tious a parade of their civic virtues and their ,patriotifm ? I will tell you what they were do- ing : they bent with fupple knee before every minifter in poiTeflion of power, and every clerk the favourite of his principal ; they vo- luntarily humbled themfelves in the prefence of power, and ftudied how with courtly addrefs to pleafe and flatter it ; they meanly ferved and countenanced every fpecies of defpotifm ; in fine, they were oftentatious of the fymbols of their fervility, and beftowed the difdainful name of vifionary upon him who now falls fo far fhort of their artificial paflions and inter- efted fentiments. But the timjes are changed. A part of thofe of whom I fpeak have cunningly imagined the total overthrow of government a means to gra- tify their avarice, their vanity, or their ambi- tion ; while others, not animated by any inter- efted motive, but occupied for the firft time with Mr. Necker. 393 with the fubject of liberty, feel all the ardou*.* that is common to a recent converfion. At firfl excited by applaufe, or goaded by circum- ftances, they have aimed to arrive at the ex- tremity of their fyftem ; and once arrived, they find themfelves as it were wedged in and detained prifoners by the force of that very multitude whom they originally called upon to aflift their endeavours. What was then the conduct of that minifter who proclaimed himfelf the friend of liberty in his firft adminiftration ; who rendered it fuch effential fervice in the report of council of 27th December 1788; and who has fince ren- dered the mod important fervices to its caufe by the meafures I have related ? Nothing would have been more eafy to accomplLfh, known as he was for the energy of his opi- nions, and advanced fo much farther in the path of truth than his competitors, than to have preferved the advantages and the popula- rity he had gained. What was moft difficult he had done already, while he ftruggled againft the defpotifm of the great, and combated with fo much firmnefs for the people and their rights. But he difdained to purchafe an eclat which could only have been fecured by 394 Administration of by facrificing the independence of his opinion or the fincerity of his character. He left it to others to atone by the wildnefs of their tenets the latenefs of the period at which they bowed to the empire of philanthropy. Where he ftationed himfelf at firft, there he was ftill to be found ; and he preferred Angularity and ridicule to the betraying his underftanding and his confeience, and efpoufing without re- ierve the dictatorial mandates of the triumph- ant party. A conduct like this, if it will not be allowed to be courageous, will at leaft extort efteem, and is worthy of the man who prepared the triumph of liberty and aflifted its caufe by every means that reafon, fidelity, or honour would admit. It is not he then that has changed ; he is the fame, and equally deferving of approbation when he expofes fiimfelf to the hatred of the powerful by de- fending the caufe of the commons, that clafs of citizens too long opprelled, and when he fubmits to facrifice their partiality rather than defert his morality and his principles. The lad of thefe trials was undoubtedly the great- eft ; for it I have fported away what was left of my wealth, what I had faved from the ra- pacious graip of the defigning, what was of all Mr. Necker, 39$ all the reft mod dear to my heart, and had fo long been the confolation of my labours, the kindnefs, the good will, the affection of the people. It was juft, when they had deceived the people about everything elfe, that they mould alfo deceive them about me. I have loft their partiality, and thofe who have obtained it arc the advocates of a day, whom yefterday I faw in the multitude of their oppreffors ; are men who now inveigh againft government, after having folicited and obtained their fhare in the pillage. How have they entered into the fruits of another man's labours ? By affuming an outfide of valour and intrepidity; by vehe- ment and unqualified attacks upon minifters, when they knew that the objects againft whom they fought were powerlefs and impo- tent. This impotence was as yet a fecret, and they have made their advantage of the accidental deception. Had they told the truth, had they confeffed that they alone were ftrong, were powerful, were defpotic, it would then have been required of them that they mould be moderate, fober, and generous. They fhook off the yoke of thefe antiquated virtues by di- recting the attention of the public to a ty- ranny that no longer exifted, by pretending that 396 Administration op that they were hurried along by the ardour of patriotifm, and on that account inattentive to menaces the mod tremendous. The National AvTembly was not at liberty to expofe their hypocrify. It had itfelf been incorrect enough to defcribe its career as furrounded with dan* gers and befet with fnares ; and yet this ca- reer, as I have already faid, may beft be com- pared to the path, already fitted for the pur- pofe, through which a general returned from war makes his triumphal entry. How much better would* have been a noble fimplicity ! But, alas ! that fimplicity is the peculiar attribute of great fouls, and the un- equivocal damp of a fublime imagination. Nothing is beautiful but fimplicity. Art dis- colours its brightnefs and tarnifhes its luftre. It is fimplicity alone that makes a man appear confident and uniform, and at all times equal to the fituation in which he is placed. But a politic and artificial plan is pregnant with {training, exaggeration, and difcordance. "Weak and imbecil underdandings, incapable of riling to the dignity of truth, at lead re- folve to rife to the extravagance of opinion, and believe that their notions are perfect and entire when they have formed to themfelves afet Mr. NecKer. 397 a fet of undigefted principles, fo wild that they are in no danger of being outftripped by an- other. Simplicity maintains the mind in a perfect equilibrium. Its emanations are grace- [4 ful and unforced : it is courageous without gafeonade ; the friend of equality, but not the * enemy of rank ; the protedor of the poor, but not infolent or unjuft to the rich ; the friend, not the flatterer of the people; the adorer of liberty, not indulgent to licentiouf- nefs; fevere and inflexible in its .principles, not ftern, rigid, and intolerant. Thus en- dowed, the man has no need of affectation, and can truft to his genuine worth. He nei- ther blows the trumpet of Vanity, nor walks upon the ftilts of pride ; he afks no proclama- tion but truth, and no ftature but his own. It is not to be wondered at, that the diffe- rent interefts men endeavour to reconcile, and the jarring paffions they are anxious to ferve, are an infurmountable obftacle to the unity and fimplicity of their conduct; and if among thefe paffions vanity is predominant, that conduct may be compared to the turnfol, and is frequently even more variable and capri- cious ; for the luminary whofe motions are followed 4- 398 Administration of followed by this plant is regular in its orbit i but popularity, whofe precarious rays vanity is ever eager to drink, calls its flaves alternate- ly to every point of the compafs, and leave3 them not a moment of tranquillity and peace. He therefore that would be firm and unalteri able mud become fo by the elevation of his fentiments ; he muft afcend to an eminence where the petty emotions of mankind are no longer perceived, and where the fluctuations of opinion and the contagion of imitation mall be unable to affect him. I have always refilled thefe uncertain im- prefiions. The only fubjection I have mown to them has been from deference to the pub- lic voice, which bears fome refemblance to that of glory. But it was not as a flave that I paid this homage : all abfolute dependence has ever been offenlive to the pride of my heart. I have erected no altar but to honour and mo- rality ; and this I have never quitted either in the midft of the rays of royal majefty, or when the violence and menacing cries of po- pular authority purfued me. Alas ! had a greater crowd furrounded this altar, had thofe nly been faithful who were of my creed', reafon* Mr. Necker. 399 rcafon, that celeftial flame, would have had a jfuperior fway : but difcouragement feized them like a palfy, and they are become indif- ferent both to their opinions and their friends. One might fay that motion and life have pafled entirely into the fpirit of party, and that elfewhere nothing remains which can awaken fentiments of generofity, or excite a blufh on the cheek of ingratitude. I ought therefore to be pardoned for having wifhed to retrace the principal circumftances of my administration. One day, in more tranquil times, fome recollection, fome emotions of kindnefs will perhaps revive, and this will be my fole recompenfe. What juftice could be lefs burthenfome than that with which my heart would have been fatisfied, than that which was due to him who required only a fmall fhare of affection in return for fo many fervices, in return at lead for that profufion of fenfibility of which he had given fuch con- vincing proofs ? Difappointed in my hopes, fallen from my juft expectations, I will con- fole myfelf with my own thoughts, and there I mall again find what fo long diverted my attention from myfelf, and what has ftill the fame power over me a regard for France, an 400 Administration ot an intered in its fituatlon, an inquietude re- fpecting its deftiny. In vain fhould I wiih to break all the ties that unite me to its hap- pinefs and glory : my mind reflects every in- ftant on a nation which I have fo ardently loved ; and when it forgets me, when it fays to me with the Horatia of Corneille, I know you no longer^ my heart feels the endearing re- y ply of her brother, But I know you, and it is that which hills me* Oh ! it is not yet I hope too late for France to be happy ! it is not yet too late for her to indulge juft Tiopes ! This beautiful kingdom is ftill what it was : a pure and ferene iky co- vers its vaft horizon ; a temperate and falu- brious air diffufes over every part of it its be- nign influence ; a fruitful foil ftill opens its bofom with kindnefs to the labours of the vi- gilant cultivator who feeks from it every year new treafures ; the feas ftill warn its banks, and bring in exchange for its fuperfluities the va- rious riches of every other country ; the fame fpirit of activity ftill fupports the emulation of its induftrious inhabitants, and through the prefent obfcurity we perceive the vifible fignals of that profperity by which France has fo long been diftinguifhed as the favourite of fortune and Mr. Necker. 401 and tie darling offspring of nature. Let this remembrance, let thefe reviving ideas foften our hearts, and calm our paflions ; and when fo many bleffings invite us to gratitude, let thofe feelings of hatred fubfide which a long feries of calamities could fcarcely juftify. Gh ! let peace and union and love exift between children of the fame country, and let each of us to produce this effect make fome facrifice ! You who, by a fmgular example in the annals of the world, have imagined yourfelves to poflefs the right of putting juftice, companion, kindnefs, and even the fentiments of con- fcience to the vote, do you at laft ftretch out the hand of brotherly love to thofe whom you have fo rigoroufly perfecuted. Look not with indifference on the defpair of a hundred thou- fand families, your elders at leaft by a priority of fervices to the ftate which have fuffered no interruption. Alleviate the effect of the blows you have given to their property, and to all the rights which conftituted their inheritance. Laftly, among the different equalities with which you are fmitten, forget not that of hap- pinefs, which is more real than any of them. You have hitherto wifhed to act only by force and conftraint, and you have thus created all D d the 402 Administration of the refinance which fprings from pride of cha- racter. Meanwhile this refiftance is with man- kind in general, and with Frenchmen in par- ticular, the mod difficult to conquer. You have irritated by your imperious forms thofe whom you have rendered unfortunate ; and, as if you had been jealous of their generofity, you afforded them no opportunity of honourably refigning what you extorted from them. You have always fpoken in the name of the law, but it was a law of your own creating ; fet fome value alfo on that which has founded em- pires, which conquerors themfelves have refpedted, on that law of wifdom and equity, which, taking men as it finds them, endeavours to unite all claries of citizens by their various interefts and their reciprocal connections. One would fuppofe, from your eagernefs to over- turn every thing within a given time, that you were deputies of a world in the clouds, and that, forced to return on an appointed day and to carry away with you all ideas of juftice and reafon, you were under the neceility of com- pleting your arrangement before your depar- ture, and eftabafhing laws by a fort of rapid communication that were deftined to endure for ages. But nothing of all this exifts ; you are Mr* Necker. 403 are inhabitants of this world, momentary be- ings like ourfelves, educated in the fame fchool, the fchool of time and experience, and daily- receiving new inftruction. Thofe who fhall come after you will furpafs you in knowledge, as you yourfelves have furpaffed others. Be therefore diffident and circumfpect in the revi- fion you are to make of your different decrees. Forget not that it was in the bofom of divifions, in the midft of all forts of paffions, that you compofed the legiflation of France. Your work muft have felt the impreflion of thefe circumftances. Europe fees it, and thus judges of it. Be not you the only perfons who place in it an unlimited confidence. Decree not the name, the great name of immutability but to a fmall number of fundamental truths evidently neceffary to the happinefs of nations and the maintenance of a reafonable liberty. Gonfider all the powerful motives that mould have actuated you. Judge from the touchftone of your confcience, if your opinion has been conftantly free and independent. Examine whether you have been, in the midft of the agitations of Paris, what you would have been in the afylum of the fage, and in, the retreat of filence and tranquillity, where D d 2 your 404 Administration of your feelings and your thoughts would have been your only guide. Examine alfo if no felfifh views have made you deviate from the path that leads to the public good. Take into the account the fecret fedu&ions which the de- fire of reputation, the hope of glory, the habi- tual charms of praife, the confufed ideas of a vague ambition, and a thoufand other confide- rations have prefented to you. Finally, reflect whether your regards have not oftener been fixed on the narrow gallery of the houfe in which you hold your deliberations, than on the immenfe fpace where pofterity will take its feat. Having firft recollected thefe things, then determine, if you have the courage to do it, whether it becomes you to decide, for all fu- ture generations, the laws you have voted un- der the irrevocable name of conftitution . Exa- mine whether, undeputed to fuch a wardfhip by thofe that went before you, you can juftify yourfelves in thus fubverting and entirely changing the inheritance of ages yet to come, and tranfmitting to them your decrees with no other fecurity for their rectitude than the in- fallibility of your difcernment. Indeed fup- p'ofing your attention extended at prefent no farther Mr. Neckek. 405 farther than the period of your own exiftence, can you forget the many difficulties, as yet un- produced, but which will fpeedily appear? Can you be ignorant of the ambition by which your fucceflbrs will be infpired to diftinguifh them- felves in their turn ? Can you be blind to the different paffions that you have fet in motion, to the gradual increafe of oppofition and dis- content, in proportion as prudent men fhali choofe and timid men mail dare to elevate their voice ? In a word, can you forget the character of your compatriots, firm and perfevering while they are yet in progrefs, but who will be anxious for fome new object, and feek fome new impreffion, as foon as their firft wifhes have been fulfilled ? How favourable is that fituation in which the exercife of no principles is demanded but thofe of prudence and moderation ; where to fecure our triumphs it fuffices that we circum- fcribe them, and to confolidate our empire that we limit the extent of its authority ! Your glory will be Sufficiently ample, your fortune in the utmoft degree enviable, if the different ju^ dicious inftitutions that are afcribable to your energy and zeal furvive the firft agitation of the paffions, and yield in peace their generous D d 3 harveft 406 Administration of harveft to the following generations. Be care- ful that the regrets of fome, the tears of others, the miftruft and the prefaging anxieties of all be at length annihilated, and all men will agree to applaud the good for which they are in- debted to you. It is not of a timid and ilavifh approbation that it becomes the National Af- fembly to be jealous : never yet was there ty- rant fo bloody, or ufurper fo arbitrary, but he has obtained this fort of applauie in the mo- ment of his power ; and if Tamerlane, after all his victories, had impofed an oath de- claring him the mildeft and moft beneficent prince upon the face of the earth, he would have obtained it with the utmoft facility, and Bajazet himfelf would have figned itacrofs the bars of his cage. It is not to fuch expreflions of refpect that the National AfTembly mould limit its ambi- tion. It has done enough worthy of the trued commendation, to bid it afpire to an enlight- ened homage, and to induce it to fuffer the real fenfe of the nation to utter its voice. This lenieitis without doubt difficult to difcover: for it is not.in the midfl of the moft ardent paffions, it is not during the firft moment of a great re- volution, it is not cfpccially in a city where licen- Mr. Ne c ker. 407 licentioufnefs and uproar put liberty to filence, that' the permanent wants of men and their rooted fentiments can be difcovered. I how- ever believe that it depends upon the AfTem- bly at large, but more efpecially upon a cer- tain number of its members, gradually to tranquillize the minds of the public, and thus infenfibly to lead general opinion to that point of moderation where time will infalli- bly fix it. It were alfo to be wifhed that the perfons who think themfelves aggrieved would not, by their conduct within the kingdom, or their agitations out of it, protract to a more diftant period the triumph of reafon. They have not been confcious how greatly their caufe would have been ferved by that com- pofed and dignified countenance, by that ma- kefile filence under oppreffion, which has frequently difarmed and confounded the haughtinefs of the oppreflbr. But they ought at leafl to have known that many of their proceedings have aided the views of thofe who ftand in need of the appearances of danger to fupport at once their credit, D d 4 their 408 Administration of their extravagant opinions, and their un- known projects. I will not afk men offended in fo many ways, to return into France during the reign of the prefent legiflature ; they have too much caufe to complain both of the form and reality of its proceedings. Suppofing them therefore to fay We will not confent to fubmit till the nation has explained itfelf by another organ there would be nothing in this conduct but what an independent and manly mind would naturally fuggeft. Above all, it cannot be expected that they fhould be'fubdued by the pecuniary penalties with which they have fo injudicioufly been me- naced : to expect it from them feems little lefs than to add infult to injury. But if they fhould extend their refentment to their coun- try if they fhould be blind to all the calami- ties of which they would in that cafe be the unfortunate caufe I cannot fuppofe it the report is falfe, and the terror groundlefs Is it poflible they fhould enter, as enemies, the country where they drew their firft breath ? Through what part of it could they march without treading under their feet the afhes of their progenitors, thofe heroes of France who perifhed Mr. Necker. 409 perifhed in defence of the kingdom, and who in the courfe of their lives experienced fome- times the ingratitude of their country without ever ceafmg to lpve it ? They would cry to you from their tombs ' Stop, ftop ! the " titles which we tranfmitted to you - were " acquired by our virtues and our courage, w and the wealth you inherited from us we " would gladly, had it been neceflary, have ' u facrificed to the ftate. Our name which <c you bear, demands of you the fame du- <c ties." They would alfo fay to you " The country in which you are kindling ' the flames of war does not belong exclu- " fively to the men of whofe conduct you " complain ; it belongs to you equally with " them ; it is the country of your children ** as well as of theirs. Wait with calmnefs " the juftice of time ; and mould it be long " in coming, mould it never arrive, refolveto " bear every thing rather than have a fingle ** caufe of felf-reproach." I ought not to join my voice in thefe ex- hortations ; I have no right to addrefs thofe who do not love me ; and at a time when fo many motives would animate my lan- guage, a painful fenfation of injuftice reftrains my 4io Administration or my emotion, and forcibly bears down the ebullitions of my foul. I will only permit myfelf to invite the dis- contented citizens not to turn away their eyes from thofe general benefits, thofe benefits of no common magnitude, in which they will participate mould peace and order be reftored, and moderate ideas fucceed to firft pafiions. Something has been gained for every one in the deftructicn of fo many abufes; in the erection of that impregnable fortrefs which forbids the return of ancient diforders j in the abolition of taxes fo long the obje& of general execration ; in the annihilation of the fhackles which have hitherto prevented the circulation and increafe of the national wealth ; in the combination of every part of the empire under the fame direction, and the eftablifrunent of thofe equal interefts which will for ever exclude the revival of ancient jealoufies ; in the general adoption and record of invariable principles, the hoftages of civil and political liberty ; in fine, it is the greatefl gain, and a gain to be fhared with generations yet unborn, the authority fecured to the na- tional voice, and the eternal fummons of know- M r. Nec kek. 411 knowledge and wifdom and genius to co-ope- rate in the great work of the public good. "We are now certainly in pofleflion of all the elements that can form a fuccefsful go- vernment ; and all that is neceffary is to com- bine and amalgamate them properly, and then* fubmit them to the teft of time. If we do not feek to promote confufion, we .may yet hope one day to become the envy of the whole earth. But if the inconfiderate confi- dence of fome, the animoiity and violence of others, and the vanity of all, fhall introduce tumult and prevent us from attending to the leffons of wifdom, we fhall. fee within our reach the end of our wifhes without being Aire of ever attaining it. Let us be cautious of the fecret friends of defpotifm, but let us be alfo on our guard againft thofe who make ufe of the name of liberty to excite a blind enthufiafm. We know not where they would lead us by a pafllon of this nature. They are ignorant themfelves what kind of authority they are defirous of preferving, and many of them would perhaps wifh every thing to be re- duced to the ftate of nature, that they might feize to themfelves a better portion than has fallen 4i* Administration of fallen to their lot of the gifts of fortune. It is terrifying to reflect on the laft degree of civil, political, moral, and religious fubverfion to which fome <laring and diforderly fpirits are difpofed infenfibly to conduct us. It cannot be doubted but they will find fome abufe again ft which to declaim, fome alarm to excite, till they fhall have introduced the moft abfolute and unqualified levelling both of men and things. If they have the courage of the Titans, they would no fooner have overturned the kingdom of France than, mounting upon its ruins, they would endea- vour to fcale the very heavens ; and there, if they could, after having equalized the action of the elements, introduced univerfal confu- fion, and burft the prifon that now holds the fury of the tempefts under reftraint, they would enjoy with favage pleafure the wreck of the univerfe. Alas ! we perceive every where the fruit of their doings, and we have caufe to weep over it. Confufion furrounds us, and we do not yet know if we fhall efcape the calamities of which it is the origin. How is it that you, who mould be our instructors and fages, and who have been fo fometimes, how is it 5 tna * Mr. Neckeh. 413 that you have not better calculated the effect of the different paffions ? How is it that you have not cbferved their fpirit of usurpation and their daily encroachments ? Like the philofo- pher Archimedes, I fear that while you were feeking the folution of your theoretical pro- blems, while you were occupied in drawing y inferences from what you call the principle ', you did not perceive that the enemy was within your walls, and that the city was taken. Nothing fo beautiful as to render men fingly dependent upon law ; that is, upon a fuperior who has neither partiality, favour- itifm, nor folly. But this dependence can only be maintained by a firm and fevere coun- tenance when the fubject of it is an ignorant, blind and miferable multitude, who forever covet the prizes that are to be drawn in the great lottery of innovation. As long* as you talk to them of the removal of grievances you are fure to have them on your fide ; but when the moment has at length arrived in which fomething muft be maintained and pre- ferved, the tafk becomes more difficult. You have afllduoufly employed this multitude in the bufmefs of deftru&ion, how will you bring them back to fubjection and reverence ? You 414 Administration of You have permitted interefted and defigning men to deceive them, how will you perfuade them to liften to nothing but truth ? In the name of the public good exert yourfelves in this arduous tafk, and lend your exertions to the caufe of undifguifed reafon. You above all, who to the feelings of a citizen unite a found understanding and a moderate temper, willingly undergo the rifk that may attend upon minifters of peace and negotiators of the public felicity. Watch the moment moft favourable to this virtuous enterprife. Recon- cile one party to the inconveniences they muft continue to fuffer, and the other to the advantages they ought cheerfully to yield. The ambaiTadors of reafon, and having deriv- ed your credentials from her, aflcrt her rights and her authority. Labour to model into the moft advantageous form, opinion, the miftrefs of the world, the fovereign of legisla- tors themfelves. Mix in all public aflemblies, not for the fake of {hocking and giving offence to the prevailing paffions, but for the fake of tempering their exaggerations with the gentlenefs of wifdom, for the fake of counter- balancing in fome fmall degree the influence of thofe who, by the fole energy of their charac- Mr. Nec ke r. 415- character, hurry their difciples into the mod baneful extremes. You will have done much if you are able to reftore the refpectability of prudence, if you can procure her fome friends, or even gain her a hearing. You will have done much if you can begin the treaty of union, if, fo to exprefs myfelf, you can open the conferences between the belligerent powers of liberty and order, popularity and juftice, the wild fyftems of theory and the iage leflbns of experience, the gratifying the wants of thefe and fecuring the indemnifica- tion of thofe, the irritated refentment of party and the general oblivion that public intereft demands. Do not be deterred by the heat of oppofition and the afperity of con tradiction. Mind has its earthquakes and its florms as well as matter ; but hope revives when the tempeft has fubfided, the convulfions of liberty will ceafe, and liberty itfelf will become the inmate of tranquillity. She will no longer be the inftrument of info- lent triumph to a part, bilt of happinefs to the whole, that general happinefs which can alone fecure the duration of human eftablifh- ments. It is the cement which fcience is bound 416 Administration of bound to invent and philanthropy to apply. You then who love x liberty in the purity of your hearts, who love her without hypocrify and without impofture, be it your bufinefs to decorate her with the attractions moft dear to the human mind, and the truth that reafon and judgment can leaft of all refift. After a thoufand agitations let France at length fee the term of her anxieties. Let that day of peace and univerfal contentment, that day fo ardently defired, arife upon this important country, which mail be followed by long years of profperity and virtue. In that day my heart will fully rejoice, will be pervaded with triumph and honeft exultation. I truft I mail be forgiven if with this exultation I mix one perfonal feeling : the epocha of the happinefs of nations is the period of therr juftice ; it cannot exift till the clouds of falfe- hood are diflipated, and the vices compelled to inglorious flight. I then will expect from y this epocha a new verdict upon my actions. Till then let the favourites of fortune, the vanquifhers of morality and truth, triumph vnmolefted ; their triumphs mall be only for a day. The gaudy cars upon which pride has Mr. Neckrr. 417 has elevated them mall crumble into atoms : they imagine their glory immortal ; but, ere half their journey is over, they mall be driven, confounded, abaflied and dcfnlfcd, to their original obfeurity. E e APPEN- 4i 8 Administration of appendix. 23 Aprils 1 79 1. THIS work was entirely printed off when I received intelligence of the in- furre&ion of the Thuilleries of the 1 8th in- ftant. I feel it necefTary to fay thus much left my exprefiions fhould be too rigoroufly com- pared with the fentiments with which Europe is at this moment penetrated. Unfortunate monarch ! if the tenderer! intereft in your fituation oh the part of all foreign nations can mitigate your diftrefs, enjoy for a moment that confolation. Alas ! you have not then obtained from a mifguided people the tribute that the whole world agrees to pay to unfortunat e virtu e; and it is in the name of that liberty of which you were the gene- rous founder that they infringe the laws in order to put you under reftraint. If the king had - Mr. Necker. 419 had been profligately indifferent to religion, if he had neglected the folemn rights of the church, he would now have been the hero of a vain-glorious philofophy ; and the unprincipled writers, who are the oracles of the multitude, would then have found arguments in his praife that the unblemifhed life of the beft of princes has not been able to fupply. Becaufe with a tender and fearful confcience he defired to receive the facraments from one prieft rather than another, the moll dangerous fermentation has been excited againft him. It well became men deftitute alike of principles and virtue, profligate fcribblers in the midft of a diflblute metropolis, to impofe laws upon the fecret fentiments of a pious monarch ; pious, not from any promptings of affectation, but in all the fimplicity of a candid and honourable mind. Who mall give credit to them when they talk of holy facraments and the pacific obfervances of piety, with madnefs fparkling in their eyes and the uncurbed fiercenefs of a tyrant ? What an abufe of power ! what an excefs of diforder ! Surely you did not fore- fee all thefe calamities ; you, who might fo ealily have prevented them by not impofing E e 2 an 420 Administration of an oath that the public welfare did not re- quire, or at leaft by affenting to declare that you di'! not mean to interfere with what was of a fpiritual nature. Could it be neceffary to add a religious mifunderitanding to all the other diforders ? Undoubtedly the reprefen- tatives of the nation have a right to limit the durks of the public fervants ; but could they forget that the elTence of the catholic faith being myfterious, it was by religious perfua- fion, and not a decree of civil authority, that private individuals can recognize in the clergy of the church the power of confecrating the holt, of receiving confeflion, adminiftering ab- folution, and directing confeience r It is only in a religion, as fimple in its doctrines and its difcipline as the proteftant, that there can exift a perfect accord between the civil and eccle- fiaftical authority ; but where your creed obliges you to believe in the divine commu- nication of a myfterious and fupernatural power to certain official characters, a fenti- ment fo fpiritual and fo facred can never be fubjected to the regulations of human law; and in fuch cafes the forbearance of the le- giflature, and its deference to the irrefiftible 7 voice Mr. Necker. $i voice of confcience, are fo many acts of indif- penfible juftice. But it is to the unthinking multitude that in the prefent cafe they permit the decifion of thefe delicate and inviolable principles. Alas ! if the multitude are per- mitted to tranfplant the facred tree of religion, inftead of placing themfelves tranquilly under its made, they will foon altogether overthrow it, and generations will pafs away before it can erect its head and grow up as before. At the moment that I am writing this I learn another inftance of their violence. I am in* formed of a lawlefs troop who have treated with wanton infult the nuns of charity ; and throwing contempt even upon the purity of their fex and the innocence of their lives, have exercifed upon them a treatment more cruel than death. The mifguided people no longer recollected that it was to fuccour their infirmities that thefe charitable women had devoted their lives ; that while they difcharged this facred obligation, they furmounted the antipathies of nature ; that to render an ac- ceptable fervice to the Creator, they were per- petually and with unexampled patience em- ployed in the mitigation of human diftrefs. They 4*4 ApMINlSflTATIOtf OF They ceafed to recoiled that thefe children* of the celeftial Father, their own minds unfpot- ted with the contagion of fin, boldly ap- proached the difguftful fpectacle that the de-* variations of profligacy exhibit in the victims of an hofpital, thofe miferable ruins of an ex- haufted nature whom it is yet our duty to heal and reftore. They had no longer any thing to expecl: from mankind, but the refpect due to their difinterefted vows ; and they have feen themfelves expofed to the mod ignomi- nious infults. They had no longer a place of refidence or reft but the humble cells of their convent, and lawlefs ravagers have invaded that facred retreat. No, if from madmen like you they had ftudied the precepts of religion, they would never have confented to pafs their lives befide the beds of your ficknefs and de- flation. But I know what it was that ani- mated your prefumption : you believed that they would fupport your indignities with the fame god-like patience with which they fub- mit to the aftonifhing but voluntary facrifices of their profeflion. You were not miftaken ; even in this emergency their unequalled vir- tue will fupport them. But there is a juft and Mr. Necker. 423 and impartial judge that fits- on high, and what decifion think you will he pafs upon your ingratitude ? Frenchmen, renowned for generofity and philanthropy, whatfavage na- tion has ufurped the country you once inha^ bited ! THE END, HJEJU CLa^~*-4*>^ qij UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY This book is DUE on the last date stamped below bECifc 1S5& MAK 3 196*^ RECEIVED ty MAIN LOAN DESK J- OCT 1 4 1964 1I9110!11|12' 1 '2I3M R MA1N LOAN 0ESK 3eco:i 3 9 2008 (AM Form L-O-^Om-S.'ST C SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 113 928 6 jJ158Oi250 ,/ g 1 Unr