TU2GOT, ANNE ROBERT JACQUES, French statesman, b. in Paris, May 10, 1727, was descended from one of the oldest families in Normandy. Turgot was destined for an ecclesiastical career, but adopted by preference the profession of law. In 1761 he was appointed intendant of Limoges, and administered the affairs of the province for thirteen years, He introduced a more equitable administration of imposts, and suc ceeded in abolishing the old method of repairing roads and bridges by the compulsory labor of the poor inhabitants of the district, called correes. He also exerted himself in providing for the subsistence of the people and the protection of commerce. He intro into the Limoges the cultivation of potatoes. A wider field opened before him on the death of Louis XV. The finances Were in a terrible state of disorder, the whole social and political system of France needed regeneration and reform; and Turgot appeared to be the man to meet the crisis. He was first made minister of marine, and afterward comptroller-general of France, when to fill that post was to be virtually the prime minister. In his letter to Louis XVI, he adopted, as the principle of his adminis tration. that there should be " no bankruptcy, no augmentation of imposts, no loans;" yet he foresaw that the strength of the privileged classes; and the corrupt influence of those who profited by abuses, would be too much for him, and that against such enemies he could hardly hope to retain the confidence of the king. His first task was so far to reduce the expenditure as to leave a surplus of 20 millions of francs a year, to be applied to the liquidation of old debts. He augmented the public revenue without imposing new taxes, and he introduced exactness of payments and fidelity of engage ments into all his financial operations. One of his first measures was the carrying out of free-trade in corn throughout the interior of the kingdom. He constantly occupied himself with the amelioration of the condition of the people. He proposed to enfran chise the rural districts from statute labor, provinces from their barriers, commerce from internal duties, trade from its shackles, and lastly, to make the nobility and clergy moutribute to the taxes in the same proportion as the third estate. This great minister
and virtuous citizen, of whom his colleague, Malesherbes, said: "He has the head of Bacon, and the heart of L'Hopitaf," wished, by means of provincial assemblies, to accustom the nation to public life, and prepare it for the restoration of the states-general. If the nobility and privileged classes lied possessed enough of foresight and patriotism to submit to his plans for reforming France, she might have been spared the horrors and excesses of the revolution. But his projects for the public good were defeated by the confederacy formed against him by nobles, courtiers, farmers of the revenue. and finan ciers. The king forsook him, although, at the same time, observing that Turgot and himself were the only persons who desired the welfare of the people. He retired, hay ing held office for only twenty months. It is alleged against his practical talent for statesmanship, that lie labored under a want of address, and that he did not sufficiently dissemble his hatred and contempt for the cowardice and baseness of those who fattened upon the abuses that were eating like an ulcer into the heart of France. After his retire ment, he resumed his early worship of the muses. His Latin inscription for the portrait of Franklin is a line of which any author, might be proud: " Eripuit cceo fulmen, 4ceptrunique tgrannis." Iie also devoted himself to physics and mathematics. His works are a mine of sound and original thought. His Illemoire on the American war expresses views on the nature of colonies which have since been adopted by the best writers. His work on Usury contains almost all that is of value in Bentham's Letters on the Usury Laws. He held general objections to charitable institutions. He died of gout, Mar. 20, 1781, leaving behind him a memory which France will ever cherish with veneration.