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 IN MUMORIAM 
 BERNARD MO 
 
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 . 
 
 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 
 

 
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