The Eve of the French Revolution | Page 8

the Parliament of Paris in 1787 that they knew that
the expenses of the king could not be regulated by his receipts, but that
his receipts must be governed by his expenses, he spoke a half-truth;

yet it had probably not occurred to him that there was any difference
between the necessity of keeping up an efficient army, and the
desirability of having hounds, coaches, and palaces. He had not
reflected that it might be essential to the honor of France to feed the old
soldiers in the Hotel des Invalides, and quite superfluous to pay large
sums to generals who had never taken the field and to colonels who
seldom visited their regiments. The courtiers fully believed that to
interfere with their salaries was to disturb the most sacred rights of
property. In 1787, when the strictest economy was necessary, the king
united his "Great Stables" and "Small Stables," throwing the Duke of
Coigny, who had charge of the latter, out of place. Although great pains
were taken to spare the duke's feelings and his pocket, he was very
angry at the change, and there was a violent scene between him and the
king. "We were really provoked, the Duke of Coigny and I," said Louis
good-naturedly afterwards, "but I think if he had thrashed me, I should
have forgiven him." The duke, however, was not so placable as the
king. Holding another appointment, he resigned it in a huff. The queen
was displeased at this mark of temper, and remarked to a courtier that
the Duke of Coigny did not appreciate the consideration that had been
shown him.
"Madam," was the reply, "he is losing too much to be content with
compliments. It is too bad to live in a country where you are not sure of
possessing today what you had yesterday. Such things used to take
place only in Turkey."[Footnote: Besenval, ii. 255.]
It is not easy, in looking at the French government in the eighteenth
century, to decide where the working administration ended, and where
the useless court that answered no real purpose began. The ministers of
state were reckoned a part of the court. So were many of the upper
civil-servants, the king's military staff, and in a sense, the guards and
household troops. So were the "great services," partaking of the nature
of public offices, ceremonial honors, and domestic labors. Of this kind
were the Household, the Chamber, the Antechamber and Closet, the
Great and the Little Stables, with their Grand Squire, First Squire and
pages, who had to prove nobility to the satisfaction of the royal herald.
There was the department of hunting and that of buildings, a separate

one for royal journeys, one for the guard, another for police, yet another
for ceremonies. There were five hundred officers "of the mouth,"
table-bearers distinct from chair-bearers. There were tradesmen, from
apothecaries and armorers at one end of the list to saddle-makers,
tailors and violinists at the other.
When a baby is at last born to Marie Antoinette (only a girl, to every
one's disappointment), a rumor gets about that the child will be tended
with great simplicity. The queen's mother, the Empress Maria Theresa,
in distant Vienna, takes alarm. She does not approve of "the present
fashion according to Rousseau" by which young princes are brought up
like peasants. Her ambassador in Paris hastens to reassure her. The
infant will not lack reasonable ceremony. The service of her royal
person alone will employ nearly eighty attendants.[Footnote:
Mercy-Argenteau, iii. 283, 292.] The military and civil households of
the king and of the royal family are said to have consisted of about
fifteen thousand souls, and to have cost forty-five million francs per
annum. The holders of many of the places served but three months
apiece out of every year, so that four officers and four salaries were
required, instead of one.
With such a system as this we cannot wonder that the men who
administered the French government were generally incapable and
self-seeking. Most of them were politicians rather than administrators,
and cared more for their places than for their country. Of the few
conscientious and patriotic men who obtained power, the greater
number lost it very speedily. Turgot and Malesherbes did not long
remain in the Council. Necker, more cautious and conservative, could
keep his place no better. The jealousy of Louis was excited, and he
feared the domination of a man of whom the general opinion of
posterity has been that he was wanting in decision. Calonne was sent
away as soon as he tried to turn from extravagance to economy.
Vergennes alone, of the good servants, retained his office; perhaps
because he had little to do with financial matters; perhaps, also, because
he knew how to keep himself decidedly subordinate to whatever