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Necker, ambitious of rising in the public service, made himself known as an economist by publishing, in 1773, his "Eulogium of Colbert," the beginning of his controversy with the economists of the school of Quesnay. His next step was to forward a "Memoir upon the French Finances" to Maurepas, president of the Council of Finances, who persuaded Louis XVI. to appoint the writer to the treasury, the direction of which he retained during the five years, 1776-1781.

Economy and regularity were the leading parts of Necker's financial system. He suppressed the posts of "intendans des finances," established provincial assemblies, abolished taxes on industry, established the "monts de piété," or public pawnshops. He was successful in restoring public credit, though his censurers assert, he merely deferred payment by inaugurating new loans. His conduct was disinterested; he refused all emolument for his services, and advanced to the Government from his private property a large sum, which he never drew out from the funds. His administration was popular; but his saving plans and abolition of monopolies created for him many enemies at court; and upon his applying to be admitted to a seat in the council, for the purpose of increasing his influence, he received no answer. Regarding this as an intentional indignity, he resigned, and then published his famous "Compte Rendu," in which he furnished a clear statement of the condition of the royal treasury at his assumption of office, and of what he had done, with a further declaration of what he had intended to do.

The effect of this able document was very great upon the public mind in France. It was soon translated into all the languages of Europe. Necker followed this by publishing his "Administration of the Finances," which treated the same subject more largely, and was read with equal avidity. When M. de Calonne was appointed to the office which Necker had resigned, he made an attack, before the Assembly of Notables, upon the accuracy of Necker's statements in the "Compte Rendu." The latter drew up a memoir in reply, which he sent to the king; and his majesty intimated that if he would forbear making it public, he should shortly be

restored to his place. Necker, however, feeling his reputation to be at stake, thought proper to make an appeal to the nation by publishing his defence. This disobedience to the royal pleasure was punished by exile to his seat of St. Ouen, forty leagues from Paris. Here he occupied himself with literature and wrote "The Importance of Religious Opinions," in which he shows the serious and spiritual character of his mind. His famous daughter was now married to the Swedish Baron Eric Magnus Von Staël-Holstein.

When Calonne and Loménie Brienne, his successors, were compelled to retire by the disastrous state of the finances, the honest minister was recalled, on the 24th of August, 1788, and public credit immediately began to revive. In January of the following year, in accordance with his suggestions, and in fulfillment of the pledges of the government, the StatesGeneral were convoked, and in May they were assembled for business. The constitution of this body was ruled by the advice of Necker, to whom, therefore, it was owing that the members of the "Tiers État" were equal in number to the nobles and the clergy united. This circumstance occasioned a dead-lock, disagreement arising on matters of form necessary to constitute the assembly, and after three weeks had been wasted in altercation, a "Séance Royale" was resolved upon, in which instructions were to be given from the throne. deputies being excluded from the hall while preparations were making for this sitting, held a meeting in the Tennis Court, presided over by Bailly, where they swore an oath to meet under all circumstances, and in all places wherever they could get together, and not to separate till they had made the Constitution. Necker drew up a plan of government to be recommended by the king in a speech; but this document underwent several alterations in the Council. His absence at the time of its delivery was much censured, as indicative of his displeasure at these alterations, and prejudicing the people against the court. His dissent should rather have been shown by an open resignation than by an implied dissatisfaction.

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Necker now made a decided stand in favor of the people, and resisted the attempt to coerce the assembly by the action of the army. The court regarded him as the cause of the Revo

lution, and on the 11th of July, 1789, a sudden order was sent that he should quit the kingdom within twenty-four hours. He at once drove incognito to his country seat, and then proceeded to Brussels. As soon as his dismissal was known, all Paris was in flame; the people instantly rose in arms, one of their principal movers being Camille Desmoulins. Their first step was a tumultuous procession through the streets, bearing aloft wax busts of Necker and the Duke of Orleans. On the 14th the Bastile was taken; and on the 15th Necker was recalled. His return to Paris was marked by a popular ovation, which placed him at the very summit of renown. He remained in office till the 3d of September, 1790, taking no salary, and advancing as much as two millions of livres to the government.

As a minister of finance it was necessary for him to propose expedients which could not but be unpleasant to the mass of the people. His moderate sentiments, also, with regard to government, left him far behind the advanced principles which now began to be avowed by the popular leaders. Therefore, during his term of office, his popularity rapidly declined under the rising star of Mirabeau, on the one hand, and the increasing difficulties of carrying on the government with such a court as that of Louis XVI. on the other. Under these circumstances he asked permission to resign, but left the money he had advanced, together with his house and furniture, as the material guarantee of his previous integrity. With the greatest indifference his request was granted, and he retired to Coppet, near Geneva.

In this retirement his mind supported itself chiefly by his favorite occupation of writing. He penned a defence of his public conduct, and whilst the king's trial was pending, he endeavored to serve his former master by the publication of "Reflections addressed to the French Nation." In another essay he gave his ideas on the executive part of government. His "Course of Religious Morality," shows him in the light of an eloquent preacher. One of the last of his compositions was a novel, entitled "The Fatal Consequences of a Single Fault."

Necker had been placed in the list of emigrants, but the

Directory unanimously erased his name; and when the French army entered Switzerland, the generals treated him with marked attention. But he never recovered any hold on the public affairs. He remained a wreck stranded on the shore. His residence at Coppet was shared with his daughter, Madame de Staël, and his niece, Madame Necker de Saussure. He died in April, 1804, at the age of seventy-two.

THE STATES-GENERAL AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.

On May 5, 1789, the States-General met for the first time at Versailles. More than a hundred and seventy years had passed since, in the youth of the Bourbon monarchy, this ancient Assembly of the Estates of the Realm had consulted upon the common weal, and they were now convened for the same purpose when that monarchy was in decline and peril.

The spectacle formed an imposing sight, and it seemed for a moment as if the elements of the long discordant community of France had blended in happy and auspicious union through the representatives of its different Orders. A great hall had been laid out in the palace, and prepared in stately and magnificent pomp; and royalty welcomed the National Estates, composed of more than twelve hundred deputies, with a splendor worthy of the solemn occasion. The King, with the ministers of State, in front, and the Queen and Princes of the blood at his side, sat on a throne brilliant with purple and gold; below, arrayed in separate processions, spread the ranks of the Nobles, all plumes and lace; of the Commons, in homely and simple garb; of the Clergy, the superb robes of the prelates mingling strangely with the cassocks of the village priests; and from galleries above a throng of courtiers, of jewelled dames, and of foreign envoys, contemplated curiously the interesting scene. Outside, crowds of eager spectators filled the balconies and covered the roofs of Versailles, decked out gaily for a brilliant holiday; and the groups extended as far as the capital, already stirring with passionate excitement.

All seemed deference, good-will and hope, when the King announced that he had called together the wisdom of France to assist at his councils; and even a declaration that his chief

object was to provide for the pressing wants of the State did not weaken the prevailing sentiment. Yet it was observed with regret that the face of the Queen seemed overclouded with settled care, and jealousy had been aroused in more than one breast by the distinctions drawn by the officials of the Court, and by the contrast between the feudal magnificence of the nobility and the lordly hierarchy, and the plebeian aspect of the meanly-attired Commons.

On the following day, the Estates were invited, their first sitting having been merely formal, to meet again for the dispatch of business. The intention of Necker, the chief minister, had been to convene them for the object mainly of procuring supplies for an exhausted treasury—an increasing deficit had for many years been one symptom of the ills of the Statebut it had long been arranged that they were to advise on the administration and general affairs of the kingdom. A preliminary question, however, arose, which brought out distinctly the deep-seated differences already existing in this Assembly. According to ancient precedent, the separate Orders of the States-General gave their votes apart, and the Nobles and Clergy, if they coalesced, could easily neutralize the will of the Commons, voting being by Orders and not by persons, and the votes of two Orders being thus decisive. Trusting to this usage, the Court had consented, in the elections, which had lately taken place, that the number of the representatives of the people should be double what it had been formerly, for it was thought no danger could possibly arise, and the concession was a popular measure.

The Commons, however, had made up their minds not to be reduced to ciphers by ancient forms, and they insisted, accordingly, that the three Orders should hold their deliberations apart, and that votes should be given by head; that is, be determined by the majority of individuals in the collective Assembly. The Nobles protested against this scheme, being but three against more than six hundred Commons; and they resisted an invitation to a fusion in which their influence might be diminished, the three hundred Clergy, though divided in mind, siding with them at the command of the bishops.

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