III. 1784. 1 Soul. vi. 113, 115. Rev. Franc. CHAP. and from her saloon, which embraced all the wealth and a large part of the nobility of the court, issued in all directions the fair supporters of the future comptroller-general. M. d'Harvelay himself strongly recommended him as the only man capable of grappling with the existing difficulties i. 109, 110. in the finances. Thus beset on all sides, the King, accor401.Smyth's ding to his usual system, surrendered his private opinion, and Calonne received the portfolio of finance on 3d October 1783.1* Droz, i. 397, Lectures, i. 119, 120. Weber, i. 151. 68. of finance. The system of M. de Calonne, in some respects at variHis system ance, was at bottom the same, with that of M. Necker. His plan was to encourage industry by munificence; to vivify the state by vigorous measures; to elevate credit by inspiring hope; to sustain the treasury by inducing confidence, and to look for the means of discharging debt rather in increased production by those who paid the taxes, than diminished expenditure on the part of those who received them. It may readily be conceived what transports of satisfaction the adoption of such a system excited among the courtiers and nobility, whose insatiable cupidity had chafed bitterly against the economy of former administrations. Magnificent fêtes, with his concurrence, succeeded each other in brilliant and rapid succession ; noble works, particularly at Cherbourg, Paris, and several other towns, seemed to indicate that abundance reigned in the treasury. It was during his administration, and by the provident wisdom of Louis XVI., that those splendid docks were begun to be excavated out of the granite of Cherbourg, which afterwards became so threatening to the English navy, and the completion of which added so much *The revolutionary writers, after the disasters of Calonne's administration had become evident, endeavoured to fasten the responsibility of his appointment on the Queen, in order to augment the general clamour which they made such efforts to excite against that high-spirited princess. It is certain, however, that Marie Antoinette was as averse to him as the King, and that he was forced on both by public opinion. "La reine," says Madame de Stael, "partageait la répugnance du roi contre M. de Calonne, quoiqu'elle fût entourée de personnes d'un avis différent; on eût dit qu'ils pressentaient, l'un et l'autre, dans quels malheurs un tel caractère alloit les jeter."--Révolution Française, i. 110; see also MADAME CAMPAN, ii. 109. III. 1784. to the lustre of the reign of Napoleon. No want of funds CHAP. was for a considerable time experienced for these undertakings. Such was the confidence with which his talents inspired the capitalists, that loans, though at an elevated rate of interest, were procured without difficulty; and, under the magic wand of the great financial enchanter, it was for some years actually imagined that the deficit had fairly disappeared. To the Queen, in particular, he paid the most assiduous and marked attention- all her wishes were anticipated, all her requests granted: the beautiful villa of St Cloud, then belonging to the Orleans family, was purchased for her use for 6,000,000 francs, (£240,000,) and furnished in an elegant, though not a sumptuous style; and his celebrated saying, "If what your majesty desires is possible, it is done; if impossible, it shall be done," bespoke at once the finished courtier and the inexhaustible financier.1 * 301. De Stael, i. 110, 111. Th. i. 9, 10. Droz, 407. 69. tion to the finances. But amidst all these brilliant appearances, Calonne deceived neither himself nor the King as to the real state His exposiof the finances; and he laid bare their alarming condition King of the in a memoir to the sovereign, remarkable for the unflinch-real state of ing courage with which the most unpalatable truths were told. From his statement it appeared, that the wand of a financial necromancer had indeed become necessary; for when he was called to office the credit of the crown was nearly gone, and there were only two bags, of twelve hundred francs (£48) each, in the royal treasury.+ But * Vulcan is represented by Homer as using the same flattery to Thetis :--- Iliad, E. 424. Calonne was styled by the ladies of the court "the Enchanter," the "Model Minister." A nobleman of high rank said, after he had been in power nine months, "I knew well Calonne would save the country, but I could never have supposed he would have done it so quickly."-Droz, i. 454. "Je ne retracerai pas, Sire, l'affreuse situation où étaient les finances quand votre majesté a daigné me les confier. On ne peut se rappeler sans fremir, qu'il n'y avait alors ni argent ni crédit; que les dettes exigibles étaient immenses, les CHAP. 1786. no human ability could devise the means of putting the finances in right order, when the public clamour had forced on a costly war with Great Britain which had compelled the borrowing of 400,000,000 francs, (£16,000,000,) no provision for payment of the interest of which had been made by preceding statesmen; when the selfish resistance of the parliaments made the imposition of any new taxes impossible, and the insatiable cupidity of the courtiers rendered any considerable reduction in the public expenditure out of the question; and when a yawning deficit of above 100,000,000 francs (£4,000,000) annually, could only be filled up by the continual contraction of new debt, even in time of profound peace. Calonne, in these circumstances, conceived, and perhaps wisely, at least for present interests, that the only thing that could be done was to put a good face upon the matter, and support the 1 Soul, vi. public credit as long as possible, by the exhibition, even from fallacious sources, of deceptive prosperity. He thus Stael, i. 112. gained the strength in the outset, and induced the weakness in the end, which is the invariable characteristic of credit derived from mere paper or fictitious resources.1* 117, 121. Droz, i. 403. De Weber, i. 151. revenus mangés d'avance, les ressources anéanties, les effets publics sans valeur, le numéraire appauvri et sans circulation, la caisse d'escompte en faillite, la ferme générale prête à manquer au payement de ses billets, et le trésor royal réduit à deux sacs de 1200 livres."-Mémoire de Calonne à Louis XVI., given in SOULAVIE, Louis XVI., vi. 118. Compare this with the Bank of England on the brink of ruin, and the nation on the verge of bankruptcy, in December 1825, and the coincidence of the results-the just punishment awarded to both nations for similar acts of national delinquence: to France, for its iniquitous and successful attempt to dismember England, by joining in the American war; to England, for its iniquitous and successful attempt to dismember Spain, by insidiously aiding the South American insurgents. In seven years the punishment was completed to both: to France, by the Revolution of 1789; to England, by that of 1832.- See infra, Chap. LXVII., § 87 et seq. * Calonne, with his usual insouciance and candour, made no attempt to conceal that his profuse expenditure was intended to disguise the real difficulties of his situation. "A man," said he, "who requires to borrow must appear rich, and to appear rich he must dazzle by his expenditure. That is the principle on which we must act in the public administration. Economy is doubly hurtful; for it at once intimates to capitalists that they should stop advancing their money, and it spreads languor through the branches of general industry from which the taxes are paid."-See DROZ, Histoire du Règne de Louis XVI., i. 403. III. Calonne, last driven ties. Nothing can be more apparent, however, than that this CHAP. living on forced and unsubstantial resources must, without the intervention of some unlooked-for piece of good for- 1786. tune, lead to a crisis with nations as well as individuals. 70. Increasing The contraction of debt went on progressively, and with loans of fearful rapidity: every year loans to the amount of from who is at 80,000,000 to 100,000,000 of francs were contracted, to extremi(£3,200,000 to £4,000,000;) and up to the spring of 1787 no less than 380,000,000 francs (£15,200,000) had been borrowed by the crown, during a period of profound peace, since the accession of Calonne three years before.* This state of matters could not long remain concealed; and when public attention was drawn to it, the greatest apprehensions began to prevail. Vergennes, in his situation of prime minister, and president of the court recently established for the general review of the finances, became acquainted with the existence of a huge deficit, which could alone account for the constant borrowing; and Calonne, in a memoir to the King, in October 1786, admitted it amounted to 100,000,000 (£4,000,000) annually, and that the nation was in truth subsisting on credit gained by artifice.1+ When it began to be whispered among the moneyed circles that the deficit, notwithstanding all the deceptive fallacies of Necker, had * The dates of these loans were as follows:- December 1783, 100,000,000 francs or £4,000,000 80,000,000 do. or 3,200,000 1 Weber, i. Buchez and Parl. de 161, 162. Roux, Hist. France, i. 174, 175. December 1784, December 1785, September 1786, February 1787, In three years and two months of peace, -WEBER, i. 161, 162. 30,000,000 do. or 1,200,000 380,000,000 francs or £15,200,000 "Il faut avouer, Sire, que la France ne se soutient en ce moment que par une espèce d'artifice; si l'illusion qui supplée à la réalité était détruite, si la confiance inséparable quant à present du personnel venait tout-à-coup manquer, que deviendrait-on avec un deficit de cent millions tous les ans? Sans doute, il faut se hâter de combler, s'il est possible, un vide aussi énorme; ce ne peutêtre que par de grands moyens; et pour qu'ils ne répugnent pas au cœur de votre majesté, il faut qu'ils n'augmentent pas le fardeau des impositions." Mémoire de Calonne au Roi, Nov. 1786; SOULAVIE, vi. 118. III. 1786. CHAP. reached this alarming amount, increased difficulty was experienced in getting loans; and Calonne, perceiving his financial bubble about to burst, deemed it hopeless any longer to attempt disguise, and resolved, after boldly admitting the magnitude of the difficulty, to propose a great measure for its removal. 71. Calonne's plan was a noble one, for it was based in Calonne's justice, supported with courage, and perfectly adequate to convocation extricating the state from all its embarrassments. He Notables. proposed to the King to follow the ancient practice of the plan for the of the crown in cases of difficulty, and convoke the Notables, or chief men of all different ranks in the kingdom, and solicit their advice on the course which should be adopted. But it was no part of his design that the Notables should merely speak and deliberate, without taking an active and prominent part in the measures intended for the public relief. He meant to appeal to them to make a sacrifice of their private interests for the public good; a sacrifice considerable indeed, but nothing more than was just, and one which would at once have relieved government from all its embarrassments. This consisted in their making a voluntary surrender on the altar of their country of their exclusive privileges in the article of taxation. He proposed to allocate the taille, or land-tax, by a new distribution upon all heritable property of every description to provide for the debts of the clergy in order to induce them to consent to the like equal contribution ; to diminish by this means the land-tax upon all, in so far as was consistent with upholding the public revenue; to abolish the corvées in kind, establish entire freedom in the commerce of grain, and remove all the vexatious restrictions which at present impeded the internal commerce of the country. By this means he calculated that not only would the public receipts be brought to a level with the expenditure, but that he would have an excess of 30,000,000 francs (£1,200,000) to apply in relief of the most oppressive imposts; and with that surplus he |