" extraordinary service to the King and the na " tion, the motive and the deed were equally " deserving of gratitude."

I have already observed, that I did not think it became me to take a part in any controversy; to these opposite opinions, there fore, I shall add nothing. One thing, however, is certain, that on the first reading of the Stated Account, all France seemed electrified with joy; all sides appeared reconciled, and congratulated each other; blessings were showered upon the head of the King by all; his beneficence, his labours for the public weal, his discernment, were universally extolled. Every step he had taken, conjointly with his minister, to advance the happiness of the kingdom throughout the war, were admired; the hopes with which the hour of peace was looked forward to, were sanguine beyond conception, and public confidence was never so unbounded as at this period. Not a loan was opened but double its amount was offered to the royal treasury; and hence that danger which the enemies of this borrowing system pretended to foresee.-Foreigners, the British Parliament, the

VOL. I.

Q

1

ministers, and the opposition, Lord North, and Mr. Burke, were equally expressing their admiration in their different styles, to find the

" throne of France filled by a descendant of

Henry IV. who emulated his worth, and who " had a second Sully for the minister of his "councils." This was a comparison, however, which, as far as it concerned the minister, his adversaries would not allow could on any grounds be applied: it is an illusion, said they, which will soon vanish!

About this time it happened, that the director of the finances had some dispute with the former Lieutenant of police, Sartine, a man who might have made a very good Minister for home department, but whom Maurepas had thought proper to make Minister of the Marine. Mr. Necker took advantage of a violent fit of the gout, with which the Prime Minister was attacked, to press the King to confide this department to another; at the same time proposing to his Majesty, the Marquis, afterwards Mareschal de Castries, a man whose life was a model of purity, honesty, and zeal; successful in war, and active in peace: in the former, he gained a victory over the Duke of Brunswick; and, during the latter, his whole study was to make himself useful to his King and country: he was a man acquainted with every moral virtue, and skilled in every branch of political intelligence; he was a nobleman without reproach, a courtier without servility, and a citizen without imprudence. He was appointed by the King, who afterwards paid a visit to his old counsellor at Paris, that, by so signal a mark of gracious attention, he might soften the displeasure which the latter would naturally experience, at witnessing the appointment of a minister whom he himself had not selected. The premier dissembled his chagrin, but did not forgive the director-general for having suggested to his Majesty a change and choice, which could not fail to be agreeable to the whole nation. It is certain that, at this juncture of affairs, nothing was more indispensable than unity between the two departments of marine and finance; but this was a fact to which the vindictive impulse of the premier's mind paid no regard. A circumstance now occurred, which is in every respect most extraordinary :-The Stated Account was published, under the sanction of Maurepas, to whose inspection all the vouchers had been submitted: but though, by his name, he openly attested its authenticity, by his remarks he turned it into ridicule. A

2

still stronger instance of treacherous conduct presented itself, in which the service of the King, and the welfare of the State were alike implicated; and the personal safety of the director, who, according to the reigning opinion of the day, had so well secured the interests of both, was endangered. A memoir, which Necker had drawn up on the establishment of the provincial assemblies, for the King's private consideration, got into other hands, and from them made its way into the possession of some unprincipled persons who were decidedly adverse to the views of the financier, and who, that they might irritate the Parliaments and the different governors of provinces against the author of the memoir, were base enough to betray the secrets of the State, and to give publicity to a paper that was manifestly designed to remain an impenetrable se

cret.

Thus, at one and the same instant, become the object of so many powerful dislikes; his credit shaken, without which he clearly perceived he could be of no service; finding, moreover, that it was absolutely necessary for him to be present when his plans were to be discussed, and that it behoved him greatly to put an end to so mortal a manœuvre as that of outward

approbation and secret opposition, Necker demanded admission to the council-he was offered admission to the chamber; he did not understand the pleasantry, and gave in his resignation. Some persons have thought, that Maurepas did not intend to carry his revenge so far ; that satisfied with humbling Necker by his refusal, and attending more to present than past circumstances, regarding him likewise as too formidable a colleague for a seat in the Council, he was willing only to keep him in a subordinate situation; an idea, to which the difficulty of finding a successor most probably gave force. Many of Necker's friends accused him of too unyielding a temper, and represented to him that he possessed the sincere esteem of the King, and the good will of the Queen; that all he had to do was to fortify himself with a little patience; that Maure pas, already eighty years old, and his health declining, would not long give him any trouble; and that this obstacle once removed, nothing would then be found to oppose the happiness of France; but, on the contrary, every thing that was prosperous would follow from the undisturbed union, and the liberty of action, which subsisted alike in a Monarch and a Minister, cordially associated in all their views, to promote