abuse; it is a reformation which both religion and the prosperity
of the state call for. The sacrificing so many victims to the
avarice of parents, is a great loss of people to the state, and the
kingdom of heaven is not the fuller. God requires voluntary
sacrifices, and these are the fruit of reflection. It is
surprising, that the laws, in settling the age for our sex’s
passing a civil contract, should forget the age for making vows:
is reason less necessary for contracting with God, than with men?
This I submit to yours and his Majesty’s reflections: in the mean
time, give me leave to be,
Madam,
Your most humble servant,
Sister JOSEPH.”
The King thought that sister _Jesus’s heart_, and sister _Holy Ghost_,
had done wrong in drawing sister Joseph into the state of celibacy, as
with such happy dispositions for marriage, she bid fair to have been a
fruitful mother, and thus have benefited the state.
To suppress the aforesaid abuse, his Majesty issued an arret, forbidding
all religious communities to admit a novice under twenty-four years of
age and a day.
Other bodies, besides the parliament, continued setting forth to the
court the impossibility the people were under of paying the _twentieth
denier_. The states of Languedoc, with a peremptory kind of humility,
represented that it was a load the province could by no means bear: the
bishops, who usually employ their pens only in mandates, now wrote
memorials on the public distress. The King ordered them not to meddle
with money matters, and dissolved the assembly. The Duke de Richelieu,
who was then at Montpellier, seconded the court’s injunctions, and
restrained the bishops pens as much as he could.
On being thus debarred from writing or meeting, they appointed an
extraordinary deputation to lay before the King the condition of the
kingdom. They were admitted to audience; they made their speech,
returned home, and the _twentieth denier_ was levied.
A minister of state used frequently to say, that these representations
only increased the public charges. Were the provinces to pay at first,
they would save themselves the no small expences of journies,
correspondencies, and deputations, not to mention monopolies, which, on
these occasions, are unavoidable.
The states of Bretagne likewise offered their difficulties; but all the
effect of the representations of both was, that the court appointed two
intendants of the finances to go and settle the levying of that tax on
those refractory provinces.
These dictatorial proceedings of the states led the council to take
their meetings into consideration; and, for some days, it was
deliberated, whether they should not be totally laid aside. A counsellor
of state, who was for the dissolution, drew up a memorial, which the
King was pleased to communicate to me. This piece having never been
printed, consequently not known to the public, I shall give it a place
here.
“The provincial states are of no use to France; such assemblies might
have been necessary in those times, when each province formed a separate
kingdom; but France being now united under one single government, can
regulate its concerns sufficiently for itself, without any need of
assemblies.
“These provincial states only keep a division between the Prince and the
subject, and are an obstacle to the expeditious levying and collecting
of the imposts.
“On his Majesty’s ordering a tax, however necessary it be, to defray the
extraordinary expences, these states are sure to oppose it; and
immediately the court is deluged with remonstrances, and Versailles
crowded with deputies: the general affairs must be delayed to issue
fresh orders, and answer those sent by the states, for their writings
are rather orders than memorials.
“This suspension of ordinances has other very bad effects; the subjects,
become accustomed not to obey, look on the wants of the state with the
coldest indifference, and the public affairs go on heavily.
“The members of these assemblies are like so many petty sovereigns;
their ascendency over the minds of the people being without bounds. An
Archbishop of Narbonne, on his coming to Montpellier to open the states,
is received with greater pomp than if Lewis XV. was to make his public
entry.
“In a monarchical state, where the whole authority should proceed only
from one centre, it is dangerous to divide it by subordinate bodies.
“These provincial states likewise affect morality and religion; those of
Languedoc consist of twenty-four bishops, or archbishops, who thus are
absent from their dioceses three months out of the twelve; leaving in
their stead their vicars, who have neither the like regard or zeal for
their flock; and in this interval, a relaxation in discipline and
manners spreads every where.
“The luxury of these assemblies is equally scandalous, every bishop
there having his court and courtiers, and keeping open table. Today the
bishop of Alaix has thirty covers on his table; and to-morrow my Lord of
Nismes gives an entertainment, to which fifty persons of distinction are
invited; and so on.
“The dissolution of the states will be attended with no diminution in
the finances. The free gift, which is the principal business of these
assemblies, may be regulated like a common tax levied from year to
year.”
The door of the provincial states being thus shut up, that of the
assembly of the clergy immediately burst open: it was still the same
object, but here discussed in great.
The business, as in the other assemblies, was the _twentieth denier_,
and the free gift: though this body, whenever called on by the King,
pleads indigence, yet it knows that it is so far accounted rich, that
all its studied speeches, on those occasions, cannot bring the public to
think it poor.
It endeavours therefore to compound with the King, and this time offered
seven millions and a half to be exempted from the impost. I have heard a
person, very well skilled in such affairs, say, that the clergy should
not be allowed to compound for taxes; but that if any composition were
to be admitted, it ought to be with the commonalty; which, as being most
burthened, should be preferred before all the other bodies put
together.
The affairs of the closet did not interrupt the court entertainments:
the King hunted as usual, came to the plays, and every day supped with
me in the little apartments. A tender and affectionate friendship now
closely united us; desire was superseded by a calm inclination; the
friend had succeeded the mistress; our hearts glowed with all the
complacency arising from passions, without any of the disagreeable
circumstances accompanying them. Several women had inspired Lewis XV.
with love, but not one had he met with of a turn to make him feel the
delights of friendship, which a generous soul will always prefer. The
former is a commerce of pleasures, the gratification of which is almost
ever followed by disgust: the second is a mild settled delight, resident
in the mind, and if it does not minister any relish to the senses, is
more lasting, lively, and refined. The King himself, at this time,
assured me, that had he at first felt the delights of friendship, he
should never have given himself up to those of love. All passion was now
subsided in him; for this name is not to be given to those desultory
gallantries, when the constitution only prompts to pleasure, without any
concurrence of the heart.
This excellent Prince often said to me, that he was happy in having a
real friend, to whom he could communicate his satisfactions and his
troubles, for kings have theirs like other men; one of his greatest was
the distresses of the people, and the impossibility of relieving them so
speedily as he could have wished. He laid open to me the whole state of
his mind, without any reserved secrets; all his heart was as well known
to me as my own: it was an uneasiness for us to part, and we always met
again with redoubled pleasure.
The King, as I said in the beginning of these Memoirs, had, soon after
my first appearance at court, made me Marchioness de Pompadour; and,
that I might remain there with the greater decency, created me _a Lady
of the palace_. This new place should have convinced all Europe, that
there was no other commerce between his Majesty and me than what arose
from esteem and friendship. But ill-nature pursues its point, regardless
of all probabilities; and the state-malcontents picked out this passage
of my life to mangle my reputation, &c.
To return to politics: business went on at Versailles with great
dispatch, that the King might the sooner have the satisfaction he so
passionately desired, of diminishing the imposts, and making his people
enjoy the benefits of peace.
The marine was the principal point in view: M. Rouillé had hastily got
together a little fleet, which, putting to sea, gave no small umbrage to
the English. The British nation, with all its natural composure, is all
in flames at the bare mention of a French navy: concerning this, I
remember a jest at that time, _that the Britons could not close their
eyes since France had an eye to its maritime concerns; and that were we
to build a hundred ships of the line, not a soul in England would have
any sleep_.
This navy, however, was but a-beginning, and far short of what was
intended. Yet could England ask France, “what was the destination of
these ships?” M. de Puisieux gave my Lord Albemarle for answer, “that
the King of France was not accountable to any power in Europe; that
France was at peace with Great Britain; and that, consequently, the
latter had nothing to apprehend from those ships.”
The court of St. James’s seemed satisfied; yet more closely watched our
measures.
The government’s attention was for some time taken up with books; the
French, than whom perhaps no people in Europe are more restrained in
their speeches, sillily affect to be the first in their thoughts. They
print their notions on what comes uppermost, and the government is ever
the first thing to fall under their pen. It is said that this
licentiousness is owing to the above restraint; and I have heard that
were not so many authors sent to the Bastile, Paris would not swarm with
them as it does.
Very few of these seditious writings will bear reading, some of them are
not so much as worth a _lettre de cachet_. To make the authors of mere
trash the King’s pensioners, is doing them too much honour.
Though the assembly of the clergy granted every thing required, it did
not give every thing. On which the court sent a remonstrance to that
body, which it answered with another remonstrance; but herein it so
little observed the bounds of moderation, that the King dissolved the
assembly, and confined the bishops to their dioceses. The next day a
courtier said in the King’s anti-chamber, “that they ought to be sent
out of the kingdom, and priests put in their places:” this act of
prerogative so humbled the prelates, that they offered to comply with
all his Majesty’s pleasure.
A nobleman said to the King, _Sir, if your Majesty will be no more
troubled with the clergy’s remonstrances, a sure way will be, to forbid
the bishops coming to Paris; they will assent to the free gifts, or to
any terms, only allow them to live there_.
However, this affair of the bishops disturbed the King; and one day he
said to me, with some emotion, _They are perpetually vexing me. No
sooner have I raised a poor ecclesiastic to a dignity of a hundred
thousand livres a year, than he sets up for a leading man among the
clergy, and votes against the free gift. Sir_, said I to him, _methinks
there is a way of satisfying all. The crown should, on the death of the
present possessor, appropriate to itself half of the revenue of the
larger benefices. This would be no tax on any one. There is not a
subject in France, designed for the church, who would not think himself
under the highest obligations to your Majesty, in conferring on him an
abbey, or a bishopric, with a revenue less, by half, than what the
present possessor makes of it. I take upon me to bring about the
composition; I make no doubt but that I shall find, in the kingdom, two
hundred ecclesiastics, who will gladly set their hands to such an
agreement._
_This diminution cannot be accounted unjust, your Majesty having the
nomination to all the large benefices in the kingdom; and the giver is
always master of his gifts. No complaint lies against a Prince, who,
instead of a hundred and twenty thousand livres a year, which he can
bestow on one of his subjects, gives him sixty thousand, &c. &c._
These few words, spoken only cursorily, were, a few days after, followed
by an express memorial addressed to the Count de St. Florentine, and
which he presented to the King.
MEMORIAL
On the inequality of the taxes raised on
the Clergy.
“It is a received maxim in economics, that a geometrical equality in the
levying of taxes lessens the weight of them. A burden borne by all the
members of a body is always light.
“The uneasiness of the clergy concerning the free-gift, and other
impositions, towards answering the necessities of the state, proceeds
not so much from the impositions, as from the assessments. The
dignitaries, who should pay the most, always pay the least, considering
their incomes. The whole load falls on the poor parish priests, and
other country incumbents, who have scarce a subsistence, and are more
burthened as clergymen than as subjects.
“That the assembly of the bishops tax themselves, and the whole
ecclesiastical body, is not a privilege belonging to the clergy, but a
mere indulgence of the Kings of France, granted then with a proviso,
that the assessments should be equitable, and that the inferior priests,
who are the King’s subjects no less than the greater ecclesiastics,
should not be overcharged.
“The tax is rated by the income, which is an iniquitous assessment: a
priest with only a hundred crowns a year, paying a crown, in effect, is
rated much higher than a bishop, who, with a hundred thousand livres a
year, pays a thousand: a yearly income of ninety-nine thousand livres
being ever more or less superfluous; whereas he who has only a hundred
crowns, by being deprived of one, must feel it in the very necessaries
of life.
“The inferior clergy are the King’s subjects equally with the higher. To
allow the bishops to tax priests, because they are subordinate to them,
is a manifest error in government, the spiritual power having no claims
in temporals. The imposition and assessments of taxes appertains to the
crown, the mitre has nothing to do in it.
“The whole body of the clergy should be taxed once for all, like the
body of the laity: what tax the clergy can pay may be easily known; it
is only taking an account of the several sums which the clergy has paid
for these last twenty years; the twentieth part of the amount will be a
fair yearly tax, as in twenty years an exact calculation may be made of
the periodical wants of the state. In this interval, all the revolutions
may be reduced to a general sum.
“It may be left to the clergy’s choice to pay the tax, without holding
an assembly: this might be done by a tarif on the large and small
dignities and benefices, or the tax might be levied by the King’s
officers, as on the other subjects of the state.
“The latter most comports with the dignity of the crown, and will
likewise be more advantageous. As the church is daily making
acquisitions, and its general opulence is continually increasing by
donations, the clergy’s payments should be raised in proportion to
their aggrandizement.
“This rise of the clergy’s tax would be no more than what takes place in
the common imposts. Artificers and tradespeople pay more in proportion
to their thriving, though this be by their own labour and industry.”
The American affairs, of which not a word had been heard since the peace
of Aix-la-Chapelle, now began to employ the court’s attention. The
English complained, by their ambassador, my Lord Albemarle, that the
French countenanced the Indians in their practices, and, underhand
instigated them to molest their settlement in Nova Scotia. M. de
Puisieux told the British minister, that the people at London were
mistaken; “The court of France, said he, knows nothing of this supposed
instigation; and, very probably, it exists only in the suspicious minds
of the English.”
However, the first sparks of that fire, which was to kindle the war a
fresh, already began to appear. Advice came from Canada, that the
Indians were in motion; and though the cabinet of Versailles did not
give direct orders to the French to oppose any such motion, neither did
it tell them not to do so. This silence left the commanders to guess how
they were to act; accordingly, they did not declare openly, but let
second causes take their course.
A minister of a foreign court, formerly allied with France, and who, at
that time, was frequently with M. de Puisieux, put into his hands a
memorial on this head, which the King never saw, and it was not till
long after that I read it.
“France, said that piece, is not yet in a condition to go to war again:
things should be left to remain as they are, till she is able to cope
with England; otherwise every thing will be ruined. The war by sea will
give the turn to that by land: Great Britain will chuse this juncture
for inducing the King of Prussia to declare against France, which thus
will have two weighty wars on its hands, and only for a continent of no
great importance, and which, at last, it will certainly lose, for the
events of this war may be easily foreseen.
“The English navy is much superior to that of France; and the King of
Prussia has two hundred thousand well disciplined men, ready, at the
first order, to march, and make a powerful diversion in Germany; and,
with the addition of those in England, will unquestionably turn the
scale in the north. France is very well as it is, and should aim at
nothing beyond keeping itself so, till a favourable opportunity shall
enable it to do better.
“Nothing in America calls for haste; you will always have time enough to
make good your claims there: the Savages are your friends; they cannot
endure the English. At present interfere no farther than fomenting this
variance without promoting it; the time will come when you may make your
own use of it: precipitancy spoils the most promising affairs; whereas
time and patience bring every thing to bear.
“Don’t imagine that your intrigues with the Americans blind Europe; the
most clandestine practices of courts are always detected. Already, you
are made accountable for the proceedings of the Canadians, though you
appear not to concern yourselves about them. It is known to all Europe,
that the North American savages act without any continued design, when
not spirited up and directed. Every body knows those automata have no
will of their own, saying and doing only just as they are bid to do.
“Your navy is but in its infancy, scarce begun to be formed, so that a
war only of two years would totally destroy it. Before engaging in a
war, there is a sure way of knowing whether it should be undertaken,
which is to weigh the advantages of the conquests with the disadvantages
of the defeats.
“Should you beat the English at sea, which is a circumstance out of all
probability, you will retain North America, which you already have; if
beaten, and here the likelihood lies, you will lose America, and perhaps
all your other colonies, for one conquest ever leads to another.
“The English, though beginning the war only on account of Canada, will
avail themselves of their first victory to enlarge their views: and the
court of St. James’s may afterwards strike out such a scheme of
destruction to France, as perhaps, at present, it does not think of.
“A great disadvantage to France, is its having no ally who can help it
to recover its losses against the English: the Spanish navy is in no
better condition than that of France; and the Dutch rejoice in a war
between the maritime powers, were it only for the vast advantages
accruing to them from their neutrality. A continental power may retrieve
the loss of a battle by a subsequent victory; a more experienced
general, better disciplined troops, or more favourable circumstances,
will give a turn to a land-war; but the maritime concerns of France are
so situated, that a colony taken from it is lost for ever; its ships,
the only means of bringing it again into the path of victory, being
destroyed.”
This memorial, however approved by some politicians to whom I have since
shewed it, had not the effect which might have been expected; another,
afterwards presented to the same Minister, set the same object in a very
different light.
It is said that the members of the English parliament being generally of
contrary opinions, long debates are very frequent in that assembly; and
that these debates produce lights, from which the hearers receive great
improvement, and become better qualified to serve their country. It is
otherwise in France: here the contrariety of opinions only bewilders the
understanding, and increases the confusion.
“The Canada affair, said the last writer, too nearly concerns the French
monarchy, to be left as it is. Every minute we lose diminishes our
power, and augments that of our enemies. The war ought to have been
continued, had not second causes forced the government into a peace;
but those causes no longer subsisting, we should take up arms again.
“The English will never keep within the limits assigned by the
commissaries. They will, by skirmishes and secret practices, be ever
endeavouring to come beyond those barriers: they must be prevented in
time, their schemes must be destroyed at their very first appearance,
otherwise it will be too late.
“The loss of Canada would be an inconceivable detriment to France. It is
that to which England owes its being mistress of the sea, opening to it
numberless branches of commerce, which it would never have known without
being possessed of this continent.
“Though we have no great navy, yet have we shipping enough; a sea
quarrel is not the point, but a land war. It is enough for us to send
over some troops to Canada; the American affairs have no connection with
those of our country. Should any disturbances happen in Germany, they
will spring from a quite different cause; and if the King of Prussia
declares against France, it will be for some particular views of his
own, quite foreign to our colonies; he would declare himself, if we had
no dispute with the Britons about Canada.
“It is not the first time of our having several wars on our hands, or,
rather, it is impossible that we should have but one at a time.
“Our concerns are so closely linked with the other powers of Europe,
that on our arming, five or six princes cannot avoid declaring.
“The situation of affairs in Canada lays us under a necessity of
renewing the war: we cannot continue in the state we now are in; the
capital effort of our politics should be to recover the advantage which
we lost by means of the English.
“Amidst all the magnified superiority of the British navy, its successes
are not so certain as supposed. Advantages in war depend on a great
number of unforeseen events. It is often observed, that the certain
expectation of a victory has suddenly turned into the disappointment of
a defeat.
“England has not had time, since the peace, to increase its marine; its
naval force is, at this day, just as it was at the end of the war.
Before the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, we could defend ourselves at sea,
and still can: but if we defer any longer, the time will be over; for
the British navy now is encreasing every day. Our’s will be so much
inferior, as not to dare to shew its face before them; and then we shall
be obliged to relinquish North America.
“Let us, without delay, begin the war again, and then we shall drive the
English out of Canada; whereas, by continuing the peace, they will
dispossess us. This is no time for parlying; we must either give up that
part of America to England, or prepare to dispute it.