As soon as Louis had freed himself from the opposition of his parliaments, he gave himself up completely to de bauchery ; but his health was not equal to the inroads made upon it ; and his satiated appetite required the constant stimulus of new beauty, and a succession of mistresses. One of these, who was infected with the small•pox, com municated the disorder to the king. The danger horn ly increased ; and Louis, apprised of his approaching dissolu tion, fondly hoped to atone for his past debaucheries by his present penitence : Ile received the sacrament ; and de clared his intention, if he should survive, of exerting him self in the cause of religion, and for the benefit of his sub jects ; but in eight days after the first attack,, he closed his reign of 59 years, and a life of 65.
This monarch had nothing to recommend him to the affection or gratitude of his people, though, at the begin ning of his reign, in the moment of danger, the appellation of well-beloved had been conferred upon him. Thirty years of rapacity, profusion, and tyranny, as a monarch, and of the most profligate debauchery in his private life, had, however, induced the people to retract that appella tion. His example loosened the bands of morality ; the credit and resources of the country had been nearly ex hausted by his prodigality ; what remained of a free con stitution in France had been crushed, as far as he could crush it, by his tyrannical measures. He does not seem to have been capable of any generous feeling ; his affec tions were confined within the narrow limits of his per sonal pleasures and security ; whoever could administer the one, or accomplish the other, was with him a favourite; but as soon as they ceased to be useful in these respects, they were neglected and forgotten. Even the Marchioness of Pompadour, who had so long enjoyed his confidence and shared his embraces, expired, without drawing a single sigh of regret or affection from the breast of Louis, though, during her life, he had obeyed and adored her ; and to the death of the Dauphin he was equally insensible. Even his exertions against the parliaments would not have been made, though his principles and feelings were suffi ciently arbitrary to have led him to have wished their annihilation, had not his indolence been goaded on by the stimulating representations of the Countess du Barri, that while they existed he was in personal danger.
Louis XVI. was twenty years of age, when, in the year 1774, he succeeded to his grandfather. One of his first measures was, to remove those from office, who, by their errors or misconduct, had become unpopular, and had con tributed to the distresses of the kingdom ; and to replace them by men of talents and honesty. He likewise gave
great satisfaction, by suppressing the new, and recalling the ancient parliament of Paris, though, at the same time, he limited their privileges, and declared his intention not to submit to any power in them, which could possibly cir cumscribe his own. Scarcely were the members return ed, however, before they displayed their spirit and pre tensions ; but Louis, in answer to one of their representa tions, peremptorily declared that he must be obeyed.
The state of the finances was still such as to require great care in their management, and in their restoration. For this purpose, the celebrated Turgot was placed at their head in the year 1775. His measures, in some re spects, were undoubtedly wise and salutary ; but, in other respects, he seems to have suffered speculative opinions too much to influence him. Even his wisest plan, that of rendering the internal commerce of grain, as well as its exportation, free and unrestricted, gave rise to serious dis turbances, in consequence of a scarcity of corn happening at the very time of his regulations. The tranquillity of the country, as well as of Paris, was so much disturbed, that Louis found it absolutely necessary to have recourse to very strong measures ; and the Marechausse, a military body dependant on the police, were ordered to disperse the multitude, and to execute summary justice on, the most guilty. After the suppression of these disorders, Louis, in order to draw off the minds of his subjects from the unpleasant recollection of them, and of the hush means by which they had been quelled, resolved to celebrate his coronation with great magnificence at Rheims ; and, to prove that the measures he had lately been compelled to adopt were not the result of a cruel or tyrannical disposi tion, he issued an edict, which in future sentenced deser ters to work as slaves on the public roads, instead of punish ing them, as formerly, with death. He also suppressed the mousquetaires, and reduced part of the regular army. By the former measure, he relieved the citizens of Paris from an impetuous and overbearing body of men, the sup pression of whom no former sovereign had ventured to effect ; and, by the latter measure, he gave gratifying testi mony to the nation at large, that he was resolved to intro duce the strictest economy.