LOUIS XVI., grandson of Louis XV., succeeded him in 1774, being then twenty years of age. He had married 1u 1770 Marie Antoinette, archduchess of Austria, sister of Joseph IL He chose for his minister of finance Turgot, an honest and enlightened man, who, in concert with his colleague Malesherbes, perceiving the temper of the times, wished the king to take the reform into his own hands, by abolishing the corv6ea and other feudal exactions, equalising the direct taxes all over the kingdom, granting liberty of conscience aud recalling the Protestants, reforming the criminal code, compiling a uniform civil code, giving freedom of trade, rendering the civil power ludspendent of all ecclesiastical jurisdiction, suppressing the greeter part of the convents, and establishing a new system of publie instruction. These were the real wants of France; if they could have been satisfied, tho revolution would have become unnecessary. But the clergy and the nobility strongly opposed these projects, the parliaments themselves were averse to changes which would reduce their own importance, and the old Count de diaurepss, who was also one of the cabinet, dissuaded the young king from them. Turgot was dismissed. Louis however, following his own natural disposition, effected mach partial good; he abolished the corvdes and the practice of torture, granted liberty of trade in corn in the interior of the kingdom between one province and another, made many reforms in the admiuistration, established a system of economy and order, and gave the first example of it himself in his own household. He also granted toleration to the Protestants. But all these were little more than palliatives, and did not strike at the root of existing evils.
The deficitiocy in the treasury, and the debt of four thousand millions of livres left by Lotiia XV., were the great stumbling-block of Louis's administration. He however went on for some years, during which he engaged in a war against England, which was very popular with the French, humbled as they had been in the preceding struggle with that power. The object of this war was a aiagular one for an absolute monarchy to embark in : it was in support of the revolted colonies of North America, which had declared their independence of Great Britain, and it has been since generally regarded as a great political blunder on tho part of the French monarch. On the 6th of February 1778 a treaty of commerce and alliance was signed st Paris between the French cabinet and Franklin and Silas Deane on behalf of the United States, by whioh the latter were acknowledged by France as an independent community. In the following May a French fleet under Count d'Estaing sailed for America, in Juno the firat hostilities took place at sea, and on the 10th of July Franco declared war against England, and 40,000 men were assembled in Normandy for the invasion of England. This plan however was not carried into effect, because the French and Spanish fleets, which were to protect the landing, were dispersed by contrary winda. In America the Freuch auxiliary troops, joined to the Americans, were successful against the English. LAFAYETTE.] At sea many engagements took place between the 'tench and English, both in the Atlantic and the Indian seas, without any very decisive advantage on either aide ; but on the 12th of April 1782 the Freoch Admiral De Grasse was completely defeated by Admiral Rodney off the island of Dominica, with the loss of five shipe of the line, and was taken prisoner. In September of the aame year
the attack of the French and Spaniards upon Gibraltar failed. [Aagosi; Etiorr, GEOROE Art:m=8.] In September 1783 peace was concluded at Versailles; England acknowledged the independence of the United States, and gave up to France Tobago and the coast of Senegal.
Meantimo the financial embarrassment of the French government went on increasing. Necker, a Genevese banker [NEeKEn], wealthy and retired from business, having become minister of finance in 1776, made many reform; effected a new and more equitable assessment of the direct taxes, established provincial assemblies of notables, who apportioned the taxes, and put an end to the enormous gains of the Fermiers-Generaux. After five years of war his ' compte rendu ' showed a surplus of ten millions of livres; he had borrowed 530 millions at a leas interest than had ever been known in times of war; the discount on exchequer-bills, which had been 16 per cent, was reduced to 8, and all this without any addition to the burdens of the people. In November 1783, by a court cabal, Necker was diamissed, and Calonne, a more pliant and courtly person, was substituted. He managed to go on a little longer, involved himself in a dispute with the parliament of Paris, and at last, being unable to proceed any further, he proposed to the king to call together an assembly of the notablee selected by the king from the various provinces, to consult upon the meana of supplying the deficiency in the revenue, which Calonne stated to amount to 110 millions of livres. This assembly met at Versailles in February 1787, rejected Calonne'a proposal of laying additional taxes upou property (the notables themselves were all landed proprietors), and proposed instead several measures, among othera a loan on life annuities, and the formation of a council of finance. The king adopted their measures, and then dissolved the assembly. A paper was now took place between Necker and Calonne on the respective merits of their administrations, and Calonne, being detected by the king io a falsehood, was dismissed. Several successive ministers followed for short periods, but they could do nothing to retrieve the ruinous state of affairs, and at last Necker was recalled. Ha stated to the king that the only resource left was to call together the states-general of the kingdom, which had not been assembled since 1614. Tho king convoked them at Versailles in May 1789. These states had always consisted of the three ordera--clergy, nobility, and the third estate, or commons. Every order formed a separate house, in which it discusaed the measures proposed by the government, and decided by a majority of vote; By this meana any project of law displeasing to the two privileged orders was sure not to pass them two houses, and was therefore lost. Necker, to obviate this difficulty, proposed to give to the third estato a double vote, so as to balance the votes of the other two houses. The king, after some hesitatiou, gave this double vote to the third eatate, and this WAS in fact the beginning of the revolution. It is remarkable that Monsieur, the king's brother, afterwards Louis XVIIL. was one of those who supported this organio change..