XXIII. 1787. BOOK midable to Europe, and of securing the tranquillity of France by establishing the monarchical authority; neither was it under that brilliant reign, when the beneficent intentions of a great monarch were too often thwarted by ruinous wars, when the state was impoverished by victories, while the kingdom was depopulated by persecution; where so much care was bestowed upon giving every thing an air of grandeur, that the solid prosperity of the state was always neglected;-in short, it was not before the monarchy had extended its limits to the points nature had ordained to bound them, before she had arrived at her maturity, and the calm both within and without was securely established by the wisdom and moderation of her sovereign, that it was possible to indulge a thought of reforming the defects of the constitution, and of endeavouring to render the general administration more uniform." That the patriotic professions of the king and of the minister, in regard to the general reform of abuses, were at this period not wholly insincere, may be reasonably inferred from their anxious desire to be relieved from those pecuniary embarrassments which were by no milder or easier means to be surmounted. The interests of the crown and of the people, at this crisis, alike required that limits should be placed to the oppression of the PRIVILEGED orders, who constituted in France, as it were, a nation XXIII. 1787. within a nation. But every idea of fixing legal BOOK bounds to the prerogative of the monarch was re jected with indignation. It was not to derive information from their wisdom, and much less to be controlled by their authority, that this assembly had been convened. The obvious and sole intent of the court was to carry its own pre-concerted plans into effect, under the sanction of this phan. tom of a national representation. In order to preclude even the shadow of opposition, M. de Calonne had with such admirable adroitness of artifice organized this assembly, that forty-four suffrages should to all efficient purposes constitute the majority of one hundred and fortyfour. The assembly was with this view divided into seven sections or chambers, over each of which a prince of the blood presided. Voting by sections, the majority of four would of course be ac counted as the majority of the whole, although, had the votes been individually taken, the majority might very possibly be converted into an insignificant minority. Notwithstanding these precautions, so difficult of restraint are the spirit of ambition and the love of power, that the NoTABLES SOOn displayed a very refractory disposition. Numerous objections were started to the plan laid before them. To the new territorial impost they positively refused their concurrence, unless the accounts and estimates of the govern ment were submitted to their inspection. This XXIII. 1787. BOOK was refused with disdain; and the king caused it to be signified to them, " that he was determined to introduce the impót territorial, and that it therefore became them to debate, not the principle of the measure, but the most equitable form it could assume." This only rendered the discontent of the assembly violent and general. It was said, that the minister had convoked them merely to serve as a battery, from which to play off his artillery against the parliaments, and oblige them to register the plans he adopted. The enemies of M. de Calonne seized with eagerness this favorable opportunity to effect his ruin. The count de Vergennes, who had powerfully supported in the cabinet the authority and credit of M. Necker, had expired a few days only before the meeting of the NOTABLES. The mareschal de Castries, minister of the marine, the baron de Breteuil, master of the household, and M. de Miromesnil, keeper of the seals, all of the queen's party, were active in the design, in which they were zealously assisted by the numerous friends of M. Necker. In the midst of their investigations, and while M. de Calonne was apparently unsuspicious of danger, the assembly was adjourned from the 5th to the 12th of April for the Easter recess : and on the 8th that minister was dismissed from his employments. Nevertheless, that the triumph of his enemies might not be complete, M. de Miromesnil was at the same time, conformably to the weak and wa XXIIL 1787. vering policy of the monarch, commanded to re- BOOK sign the seals. The public clamor and odium rising high against M. de Calonne, whom it was now the fashion to represent as the most extravagant and profligate of ministers, he was exiled by the king to his estate in Lorraine; and he soon afterwards thought it expedient to take refuge in foreign parts from the inveterate rage of his enemies. M. de Calonne was succeeded, after a short interval, by M. Lomenie de Brienne, archbishop of Toulouse, a leading member of the Assembly of Notables, and of great popularity in the kingdom at large, as an undaunted advocate and assertor of the principles of universal liberty. The sacrifice of M. de Calonne produced no concessions in favor of the court. The Assembly of Notables, in their subsequent sitting, declared themselves utterly incompetent either to suggest different taxes, or to adopt and sanction those which had been proposed. The views of the court being thus finally frustrated, the assembly was dissolved (May 25, 1787), with a cold acknowledgment from the sovereign of the services which they had rendered to the public; and the archbishop of Toulouse entered upon his office with the prospect of encountering difficulties still more insuperable than those which had proved too mighty to be overcome by the far superior ability of his celebrated predecessor. XXIII. 1787 BOOK It is not wonderful that, things being thus cir cumstanced, no vigorous measures were adopted by France to counteract the united interference of England and Prussia in the affairs of Holland. In the month of July (1787), the states of Holland presented to the States General a proposition for soliciting the mediation of the court of Versailles; soon after which, the French embassador presented also a memorial to the States General, declaring the king his master to be highly sensible of this mark of the confidence of the republic, and ready to co-operate by every means in his power for the restoration of harmony and peace. So late as the month of September, France tardily professed her intention of assisting the Dutch, in case they were England attacked by any foreign power. This only anisupport of mated the court of London to act with the greater arms in Prussia. spirit and decision, and vigorous naval preparations were made to support the king of Prussia, in opposition to the menacing declarations of France. But the object of the Prussian expedition being accomplished in a much shorter space of time than could have been previously imagined, the court of Versailles found itself, probably not without a secret satisfaction, disengaged from all obligations. The duke of Dorset, ambassador at Paris, in consequence of the events which had taken place, presented (October 27th) a memorial to the king of France, signifying, that "no subject of |