III. 1774. CHAP. jects. The seclusion of that province, however, at length became irksome to one who thirsted so ardently after intellectual society; he returned to Paris, and was soon after appointed comptroller-general of finance, in room of the Abbé Terray. 24. ter as a minister. Though the measures which Turgot carried, or attempted His charac- to carry, when minister, and still more the principles on which they were founded, had the most fatal effect on the royal authority, yet he was far from being republican in his ideas, or connected with any of the refractory parties in parliament, who were so long at issue with the throne. On the contrary, he uniformly supported the crown in these contests, strove to allay the general fervour, and kept aloof from all the opposition which excited so vehement an interest in all classes of society. He did this from principle, not from interest. He sincerely desired the predominance of the crown. According to the French constitution, a royal edict was, in his eyes, a sacred thing, and it was precisely from the use which he hoped one day to make of these decrees that he looked on them with such veneration. He did not propose, like Gracchus, to degrade the executive and elevate the commons, by systematic warfare; he aspired to mould it, like Antoninus, according to the dictates of an enlarged philosophy. Malesherbes said of him," He has the head of Bacon and the heart of L'Hôpital;" and, in truth, his character of mind rendered him singularly qualified to act the part of a patriot minister. Profoundly versed in political science, as well as in almost every branch of knowledge; severe in his principles, 1 Senac de Weber, i. Mounier, ii. irreproachable in his manners; ardent in the pursuit of Meilhan, 98. speculative improvement, and yet capable, as his admiBiog. Univ. nistration in the Limousin demonstrated, of the most xlvii. 63,65. minute attention to practical details; a passionate friend of improvement, and yet a steady supporter of justiceNotice sur he was precisely the man for whom the benevolence of Louis longed, in order to reduce into a practical shape his warm aspirations for the good of his people. 34, 62. Dupont, Turgot, 54, 67. He soon III. acquired, accordingly, a very great influence over his royal CHAP. master; and Louis frequently said, mournfully, after he had been driven from Paris, "There was none but Turgot and I loved the people." 1774. 25. in his prin Had this able man united to these great and good qualities an adequate knowledge of human nature, and a Fatal errors correct view of the quarter in which all reform, to be ciples. effectual, must commence, he would have been an invaluable minister, and better adapted than any other man, by cautious and salutary, yet unflinching reforms, to have prevented the Revolution. But unhappily he laboured under one great defect, which not only proved his own ruin, but rendered him the most dangerous guide that could have been selected for that crisis. He was only the more so that there was really so much estimable in his character, and beneficent in his intentions. He was entirely ignorant of human nature, rigid and unaccommodating in his ideas, and pursued his designs without any consideration of the effect they were to produce, either upon the persons likely to be injured, or those intended to be benefited by his reforms. "He operated," says Senac de Meilhan, "upon the body politic like an anatomist upon a dead subject, and never considered that he was acting upon living and sensitive beings. He thought only of things and principles, not men: regarding the latter either as virtuous, in which case they might be persuaded by reason, or as scoundrels, who were to be ruled only by force." A devout believer in perfectibility, and the indefinite progress of the human mind, when guided by the light of philosophy, he forgot that inherent corruption, 1 Soul. ii. when unrestrained by higher influences, speedily gets the 277, 279. mastery of all the means of general illumination, and Condorcet, converts the torch of knowledge itself into the delusive Turgot, flame which lures its followers to perdition. In a word, Senac de Turgot the philosopher entirely forgot the principles of 84. Biog. Turgot the abbé :1 he sought for the means of improvement 73, 75. in external change of the structure of society, not internal VOL. I. S Vie de 36, 57. Meilhan, 78, Univ. xlvii. III. 1774. CHAP. purification of the heart of its members; in secret he was leagued with those who aimed at the overthrow of Christianity-he proposed to leave religion entirely to individual choice, and its support to the voluntary contributions of those who desired it; and trusted for the advance of society, and the eradication of all the evils with which it is afflicted, to the light of philosophy, the sway of reason, and the principles of justice.* 26. Turgot's finance mea sures, 24th Aug. 1774. His principles of finance were unexceptionable, and announced in the famous letter which he addressed to the King on his appointment to office, "Point de banqueroute, point d'augmentation d'impôt, point d'emprunts," were the principles which he unfolded in this letter, which deserves a place in history from the upright, unflinching system of economy and foresight which it unfolded.+ Few, probably, will be disposed to deny that these are the true principles of finance, if practicable; the difficulty always is to render them such. One of the first cares of the new minister was to draw up a statement of the condition in which he found the finances, from which it appeared that the receipts were 22,000,000 francs (£880,000) less than the expenses, besides revenues of the succeeding year anticipated to the amount of 78,000,000 francs, or £3,120,000; so that there was in reality a deficit for the year 1775 of 100,000,000 francs, or £4,000,000 sterling. It is no small credit to Turgot * It may readily be imagined what exultation the elevation to the ministry of a man of these principles afforded to the philosophers of Paris; and their joy, which is strongly portrayed in their confidential correspondence at this period, is peculiarly instructive, as demonstrating what principles they understood to have really obtained, with Turgot's appointment, the direction of affairs. Voltaire, on 3d August 1775, wrote to the King of Prussia :-"Nous perdons le goût, mais nous acquérons la pensée. Il y a surtout un M. Turgot, qui serait digne de parler avec votre majesté. Les prêtres sont au désespoir. Voilà le commencement d'une grande révolution. Cependant on n'ose pas encore se déclarer ouvertement. On mine en secret le vieux palais de l'imposture fondé depuis 1775 années.”—VOLTAIRE au ROI DE PRUSSE, 3d August 1775; Correspondance avec le Roi de Prusse. "To accomplish these three points there is but one method, and that is to reduce the expenditure below the income; and so much below it as to lay by every year twenty million francs (£800,000) as a sinking fund to reduce the CHAP. III. 1774. that, by the vigour and extent of his reductions, this huge deficit was in a great degree filled up in the next year, without any additions to the burdens of the people, or fresh loans contracted. At the same time, he gave an earnest of the fidelity with which he was about to discharge the just engagements of the state, by ordering immediate payment of 15,000,000 francs (£600,000) to the public creditors, who had received no interest on their debts for four years. During the nineteen months that he held the office of finance minister, the debts he discharged amounted to 100,000,000 francs, or £4,000,000, 1 Soul. ii. -a vast reduction to be made in so short a time, and Tableau de affording decisive evidence of the ease with which even 1775. Droz, the great embarrassments of the French exchequer might i. 159. have been overcome, if foreign wars had been avoided, by Financière a firm adherence to the same system of unflinching 194. economy.1 284, 288. M. Turgot, Bailly, Hist. de la France, The next great measure of Turgot's, was the establish- 27. lishes a free ment of absolute freedom in the internal commerce in He estabgrain, which had previously been fettered with numerous trade in restrictions, amounting almost to a prohibition, in its grain, and circulation from province to province. Although no one can doubt that this measure was founded on the clearest Sept. 13, principles both of justice and expediency, yet it gave rise immediately to violent complaints, on the part alike of the persons who had speculated, or were engaged in trade on the faith of the old restrictions, and of the people, who debt. Till that is effected, the first cannon-shot will reduce the state to bank. ruptcy. I am asked, 'Where will I economise?' and every functionary, in his own department, will doubtless exclaim that the expenses are as low as possible. There may be much truth in that; but reason itself must yield to necessity. I foresee that I shall have numerous enemies to combat, whom I must withstand alone; I shall see arrayed against me the numerous classes who profit by the existing abuses; the strong prejudices which oppose every reform; which are so strong an engine in the hand of those who would perpetuate disorders; the natural goodness of heart of your Majesty, and those who are most dear to you; in fine, the people themselves, so easy to be deceived, will very probably be roused to fierce hostility against me. I would sink under the prospect of such antagonists if I did not rely on your Majesty's promise of support; and I rely on more than the promise of the King- the word of the man."-TURGOT to LOUIS XVI. 24th August 1774; SOULAVIE, ii. 284. tumults in conse quence. 1774. III. 1775. CHAP. became exasperated at the sight of corn, when the price was already high, being transported away from their paternal fields. The bad harvest of 1774, known and felt throughout all Europe, added to these unfavourable impressions. The populace, instead of ascribing the dearness of grain to its true cause-a scarcity in the supply universally imputed it to the arts of forestallers and regraters, who had bought up the corn to enhance its price. As the price of provisions continued to rise through the whole winter, the public discontent became altogether uncontrollable in the spring following; and in April 26, April and May, serious riots broke out simultaneously in many, different parts of France. In Burgundy, numerous May 2,1775. disorders were committed. Pontoise, nearer Paris, was the centre of the insurrection, from whence it spread to Versailles, where the King sought in vain, by addressing them, to appease a clamorous multitude, who insisted upon a reduction of price. At length they were pacified only by obtaining the desired diminution.1 775. 1 Soul. ii. 289, 293. Droz, i. 164, 165. 28. Violent disorders which ensued. This concession, as might have been anticipated, only augmented the public disorders. The tumult ceased at Versailles; but the mob moved in the night to Paris, where the bakers' shops were all broken into, and great quantities of grain plundered and thrown into the streets. Large bodies of military on the following day restored tranquillity in the capital, but the tumults in the neighbourhood continued; and in a combat between the insurgents and the troops on the road to Versailles, several lives were lost. With difficulty Turgot and Malesherbes prevailed on Louis to adopt rigorous measures. The troops in Paris were augmented to twenty-five thousand, and placed under Marshal Biron; martial law was proclaimed, the provost-marshal put in authority, and two ringleaders caught pillaging were hanged summarily on a gibbet forty feet high. Next day a general amnesty was proclaimed; and the King, overcome with scruples of conscience at this unwonted act of vigour, repeatedly said to |