FRANCE. 3.63 



Under these circumstances, the only alternative that seemed to re- 

 main was to have recourse to some other assembly, more dignified 

 and solemn in its character ; and that should consist, in a great de- 

 gree, of members from the various orders of the state, and the dif- 

 ferent provinces of the kingdom. But the true and legitimate assem- 

 bly of the nation, the states -general, had not met since the year 1614. 

 Another assembly had occasionally been substituted in the room of 

 the states-general ;— this was distinguished by the title of the nota- 

 bles^ or men of note, and consisted of a number of persons from all 

 parts of the kingdom, chiefly selected from the higher orders of the. 

 state, and nominated by the king himself. This assembly had been, 

 convened by Henry the IVth, and again by Lewis the XHIth ; and 

 was now once more summoned by the authority of the present mo- 

 narch ; and the 29th of January, 1787, was the period appointed for 

 their opening. 



It was under great difficulties that monsieur de Calonne first met 

 the assembly of the notables, and opened his long-expected plan. He 

 began by stating, that the public expenditure had for centuries past 

 exceeded the revenues ; that a very considerable deficiency had of 

 course existed ; and that, at his own accession to office, it was three 

 millions three hundred and thirty thousand pounds. 



To remedy this evil, the comptroller-general recommended a ter- 

 ritorial impost, in the nature of the English land-tax, from which no 

 rank or order of men were to be exempted ; and an inquiry into the 

 possessions of the clergy, which hitherto had been exempted from 

 bearing a proportion of the public burdens. The various branches 

 of internal taxation were also to undergo a strict examination ; and 

 a considerable resource was presented in mortgaging the demesne 

 lands of the crown. 



Before monsieur Necker retired from the management of the fi- 

 nances, he had published his " Compte rendu au Roi," in which 

 France was represented as possessing a clear surplus of four hun- 

 dred and twenty-five thousand pounds sterling. This performance 

 had been read with avidity, and had been considered as an sera in the 

 history of France. The credit of this statement was ably vindicated 

 by monsieur de Brienne, archbishop of Toulouse, and by the count de 

 Mirabeau, a still more formidable enemy to Calonne. His eloquence, 

 however, might have successfully vindicated his system and reputa- 

 tion against the calculations of Brienne, and invectives of Mirabeau, 

 but the genius of the comptroller-general sunk under the influence 

 of the three great bodies of the nation. The grand and essential ob- 

 ject of reform was to equalize the public burdens, and, by rendering 

 the taxes general, to diminish the load of the lower and most useful 

 classes of the people. The ancient nobility and the clergy had ever 

 been free from all public assessment; the crowds of new noblesse, 

 who had purchased their patents, were by that shameful custom ex- 

 empted, both themselves and their posterity, from contributing pro- 

 portionably to the expenses of the state : the magistracies likewise 

 throughout the kingdom enjoyed their share of exemptions : so that 

 the whole weight of the taxes fell on those who were least able to 

 bear them. Thus the nobility, the clergy, and the magistracy, were 

 united against the minister ; and the event was such as might be ex- 

 pected, The intrigues of those three bodies raised against him so 

 loud a clamour, that, finding it impossible to stem the torrent, mon- 



