1800.] 



Memoirs of Mr. Necker^ by bis Daughter. 



,25 



the ground floor becaufe the thick faften- 

 ings give them the appearance of a dun- 

 geon ; and the garrets, becaufe the wood- 

 en bars give them a refemblance to coops 

 for poultry. They have, befides, neither 

 tree air or light. 



Twenty girls, born of creditable pa- 

 rents, who have loft their fortune, are re- 

 ceived into a houfe call^ the Moaelles. — 

 They are admitted at feven, and ciifmifl'td 

 at eighteen years of age. They are neatly 

 kept, and lie fingle. Their principal 



work is lace, which they make very fine, 

 like that of Valenciennes. They are well 

 fed and clothed, and care is taken to em- 

 ploy them in the ii)ternal bufinefs of the 

 houfe. 



In the town of Soignes there is alfo ao 

 hofpital, and a houfe for srphin girls, 

 which the prefident aniued me is very well 

 dire£led. I can give no account of its 

 ftate, becaufe, being in halte to reach 

 Brullels, I did not vifit this eftabliAiment. 



MEMOIRS OF EMINENT PERSONS. 



MEMOIRS of the CHARACTER and PRI- 

 VATE LIFE c/mR NECKER,1Vr/V/f«iy 

 A// DAUGHTER, MABaME DE STaEL. 



[Concluded from p. 338 of No. 135.] 



DE MIRABEAU and his ad- 

 _ , ^_ herents, the very evening ot the 

 day on which my father returned to the 

 Hotel de Ville, laboured to deftroy his po- 

 pularity ; they overwhelmed him with ve- 

 nom in the journals, in libellous pam- 

 phlets ; in fine, they laid liege to his rcpu- 

 tation : and who does not know that fince 

 ihedifcovery of printing, there is a teiri- 

 ble engine in the hands of powerful men, 

 which like all the other engines of fociety, 

 demands order ajid liberty, not to con- 

 found, or not to ftifle every thing. 



In fpite of the enemies who lurrounded 

 him, Mr. Ntcker did ftill feme partial 

 good : the remains of his papularity were 

 Itill ihe means of his prcferving fome 

 threatened lives : he infufed into the 

 royal authority a languafe which Hill fuf- 

 Cained appearances : but a double virtue, 

 doubly diiiiiniflied his power j tiie court 

 perceiving his popularity decline adhered 

 fo muc!> the lefs to his counfels, and the 

 popular party, knowing thst his credit de- 

 clined at court, no longer dieaded his in- 

 fluence. His ftrength with the court c<^n- 

 filteJ'in his popul.uity, and he loft this po- 

 pularity in defending the court. His cre- 

 dit wiih the court wuu'.d have given him 

 SD influence over the popular party, and 

 he did not obtain this credit becaule he 

 had at firlt fupported the popular party 

 agiiiilt the court. Th s circumftance 

 however ftiould prove no difcouragement 

 in moi.i's. My father, it has been feen 

 in his works, admitted no doubt of the 

 fidelity of this guide, alihough it did not 

 eii:ibie him t* triumph over his enemies. 

 li i'ucccfs wete the end vi man'» exilteuce> 



fhere would be no virtue, calculation wohU 

 take its place. It is therefore to he be- 

 lieved that great facrifices are impoled on 

 delicate conlcieiices, for an unknown and 

 diiiant end. Cato, when he perilhed at 

 U:ica, did not refcue the liberty of Koine ; 

 but he has confccrated in all ages a noble 

 idea by a great facrifice. Who knows 

 whether Mr. Neckcr in becoming the mar- 

 tyr of an union of morals with politics, 

 have not given more force to this opinion 

 by his genius, than he has deprived it of 

 by his reverfcs of fortune. 



In 1790, of all years the moft painful 

 to my father, he faw his hopes, his pro- 

 je(5ls, the remembrance of the paft, the 

 recompenfe he derived from the world** 

 opinion, all that formed hi» deltiny, (ink. 

 before him ; and neverthekls he never de- 

 viated a moment from his road of gene- 

 rofity. A member of the Committee of 

 Finaiice publifhed a book called ♦* The 

 Red Book — (/,f Li-vre Rouge)," which 

 ought not to have been made public, as it 

 contained the fccret expsnces of the King. 

 Mr. Necker undertook the defence of this 

 bo> k, in which there was not a fingle ar- 

 ticle which related to his adminiftration, 

 and alnioft all of (hem to that of his oppo- 

 nent Mr. de Calonne. Among other 

 things were fom« gifts to the French 

 Princes, then baniflied from France, and 

 who had fhewn themfeives abroad very in- 

 imical to Mr. Necker. He only evinced 

 moie folicitude in juftifying tiiefe gifts, 

 and mjde ufe of ail thofe delicate expref^ 

 fions v^hich (b nobly convey a relpeJt for 

 mi« fortune. My father's foul had no 

 tiniture of relentment : too gentle to hate, 

 too proud to think itli-If infulted ! 



A decree was agitated to lupprrfs titles. 

 Mr. Necker warmly inliOtd that the King 

 fhoulii refyfe it his fandbon, and he pub- 

 hfhcd 3L Trail on the iubjefl of this de. 



free 



