130 Travels in France 



that this minister must speedily retire. All who adhere to the 

 ancient constitution, or rather government, consider him as their 

 mortal enemy; they assert, and truly, that he came in under cir- 

 cumstances that would have enabled him to do everything he 

 pleased — he had king and kingdom at command— but that the 

 errors he was guilty of, for want of some settled plan, have been 

 the cause of all the dilemmas experienced since. They accuse 

 him heavily of assembling the notables as a false step that did 

 nothing but mischief: and assert that his letting the king go to 

 the states-general before their powers were verified, and the 

 necessary steps taken to keep the orders separate after giving 

 double the representation to the tiers to that of the other two 

 orders, was madness. That he ought to have appointed com- 

 missaries to have received the verification before admittance: 

 they accuse him further of having done all this through an 

 excessive and insufferable vanity, which gave him the idea of 

 guiding the dehberation of the states by his knowledge and 

 reputation. The character of a man, drawn by his enemies, 

 must necessarily be charged; but these are his features here of 

 which all parties recognise some truth, however rejoiced they 

 may be that error was a part of his constitution. It is expressly 

 asserted by M. Necker's most intimate friends that he has acted 

 with good faith, and that he has been in principle a friend to the 

 regal power, as well as to an amelioration of the condition of the 

 people. The worst thing I know of him is his speech to the 

 states on their assembling,- — a great opportunity, but lost, — no 

 great leading or masterly views, no decision on circumstances in 

 which the people ought to be relieved, and new principles of 

 government adopted ; — it is the speech you would expect from a 

 banker's clerk of some ability. Concerning it there is an anecdote 

 worth inserting ; he knew his voice would not enable him to go 

 through the whole of it in so large a room, and to so numerous an 

 assembly; and therefore he had spoken to Monsieur de Brous- 

 sonet, of the academy of sciences, and secretary to the royal 

 society of agriculture, to be in readiness to read it for him. He 

 had been present at an annual general meeting of that society, 

 when Monsieur Broussonet had read a discourse with a powerful 

 piercing voice, that was heard distinctly to the greatest distance. 

 This gentleman attended him several times to take his instruc- 

 tions, and be sure of understanding the interlineations that were 

 made, even after the speech was finished. M. Broussonet was 

 with him the evening before the assembly of the states at nine 

 o'clock: and next day when he came to read it in public, he 



