An Italian economist, when he heard of Turgot's appointment, wrote to a friend in France as follows: "So Turgot is controller general! He will not remain in office long enough to carry out his plans. He will punish some scoundrels; he will bluster about and lose his temper; he will be anxious to do good, but will run against obstacles and rogues at every turn. Public credit will fall; he will be detested; it will be said that he is not fitted for his task. Enthusiasm will cool; he will retire or be sent off, and we shall have a new proof of the mistake of filling a position like his in a monarchy like yours with an upright man and a philosopher."
Turgot dismissed, May 1776.
The Italian could not have made a more accurate statement of the case had he waited until after the dismissal of Turgot, which took place in May, 1776, much to the satisfaction of the court. The king, although upright and well-intentioned, was not fond of the governmental duties to which Turgot was always calling his attention. It was much the easiest way to let things go along in the old way; for reforms not only required much extra work, but they also forced him to refuse the customary favors to those around him. The discontent of his young queen or of an intimate companion outweighed the woes of the distant peasant.
Necker succeeds Turgot.
Necker's financial report.
217. Necker, who after a brief interval succeeded Turgot, contributed to the progress of the coming revolution in two ways. He borrowed vast sums of money in order to carry on the war which France, as the ally of the United States, had undertaken against England. This greatly embarrassed the treasury later and helped to produce the financial crisis which was the immediate cause of the Revolution. Secondly, he gave the nation its first opportunity of learning what was done with the public funds, by presenting to the king (February, 1781) a report on the financial condition of the kingdom; this was publicly printed and eagerly read. There the people could see for the first time how much the taille and the salt tax actually took from them, and how much the king spent on himself and his favorites.[392]
Calonne, controller general, 1783–1787.
Calonne informs the king that France is on the verge of bankruptcy, August, 1786.
Necker was soon followed by Calonne, who may be said to have precipitated the momentous reform which constitutes the French Revolution. He was very popular at first with king and courtiers, for he spent the public funds far more recklessly than his predecessors. But, naturally, he soon found himself in a position where he could obtain no more money. The parlements would consent to no more loans in a period of peace, and the taxes were as high as it was deemed possible to make them. At last Calonne, finding himself desperately put to it, informed the astonished king that the state was on the verge of bankruptcy and that in order to save it a radical reformation of the whole public order was necessary. This report of Calonne's may be taken as the beginning of the French Revolution, for it was the first of the series of events that led to the calling of a representative assembly which abolished the old régime and gave France a written constitution.
General Reading.—For general conditions in France before the Revolution, Lowell, Eve of the French Revolution (Houghton, Mifflin & Co., $2.00). Maclehose, The Last Days of the French Monarchy (The Macmillan Company, $2.25). De Tocqueville, State of Society in France before the Revolution of 1789 (John Murray, $3.00), a very remarkable work. Taine, The Ancient Régime (Henry Holt & Co., $2.50) contains excellent chapters on the life at the king's court and upon the literature of the period. Arthur Young, Travels in France in 1787–1789 (The Macmillan Company, $1.00), very interesting and valuable. For Turgot's reforms, Stephens, Life and Writings of Turgot (Longmans, Green & Co., $4.50), containing translations from Turgot's writings. Montesquieu, The Spirit of Laws (The Macmillan Company, 2 vols., $2.00). Rousseau, The Social Contract (G.P. Putnam's Sons, $1.25, or Charles Scribner's Sons, $1.00). Translations and Reprints, Vol. VI, No. 1, gives short extracts from some of the most noted writers of the eighteenth century. In Vol. V, No. 2, of the same series, may be found a "Protest of the Cour des Aides," one of the higher courts of France, issued in 1775, which casts a great deal of light upon the evils of the old régime. John Morley has written a number of works upon France before the Revolution: Voltaire, Rousseau, 2 vols., Diderot and the Encyclopædists, 2 vols. (The Macmillan Company, $1.50 a volume).