CHAP. signation having been accepted, M. de Argout was appointed Minister of Finance in his stead.

XXXIII.

1836.

48.

of the inte

debt.

The change of the Finance Minister, however, only Increasing adjourned, it did not remove the difficulty. Great indifficulty of the question terests were at stake on both sides; for, on the one hand, of reduction the necessitous state of the exchequer, owing to the vast rest of the national armaments which were kept up, rendered a reduction in the interest of the public debt, if it could be effected, extremely desirable; and on the other, the number of persons interested in preventing any fall in their incomes, derived from this source, was so considerable that it was a dangerous thing for any Administration to provoke their hostility. The saving to be effected by the proposed reduction was no less than 25,000,000 francs (£1,000,000) a-year; and to a Chamber deeply impressed with economical ideas, this was a temptation not to be resisted. On the other hand, the rents inscribed on the Grand Livre amounted to 140,000,000 francs (£5,600,000), and this sum was divided among no less than 293,000 holders of stock, being on an average only 473 francs (£19) a-year each.* It was evidently, therefore, a question of great difficulty, and the schism on the subject in the Cabinet was but the index, as is generally the case, to the corresponding division in society. The question, however, once mooted, could no longer be avoided; for the finance committee of the Chamber, to whom the matter had been remitted, decided, by a majority of 23 to 13, in favour of the reduction; and the secretary to the committee, M. Gouin, brought forward a proposal in its name, which was, to convert the 5 per cent into either a 4 or 3 per cent, providing to the dissentient

* M. Thiers stated some very important and interesting facts, in this debate, on the comparative holders of French and English stock :

"La grand livre,' disait il, 'est comme le sol Français très-divisé. Voici l'Etat du Grand Livre Français et la dette publique d'Angleterre en 1830.

"En Angleterre 700,000,000 (£28,000,000) et 274,000 parties prenantes. En France 140,000,000 (£5,600,000) et 293,000 parties prenantes. C'est l'image du sol Anglais et de la grande propriété Anglaise.'"-Ann. Hist., xix, 43, 44.

1836.

holders of the stock certain annuities in lieu of their claims CHAP. XXXIII. on the Government. This proposal excited the utmost interest in the Chamber and the country, for it was well known that the fate of the Ministry hung upon its decision, and that it was to become the great turning-point, both in the strife of parties and the division of social interests, in the ensuing session of the legislature.1

xix. 37, 39; 382, 392.

Cap. viii.

49.

in favour of

tion of the

On the part of the committee of the Chamber, it was argued by M. Gouin, its secretary and the reporter: "It Arguments is in order to force the Government to break silence on the reducthis momentous subject that the Chamber have brought interest. forward the present proposition, in which the holders of stock on the one side, and the mass of the community on the other, are so deeply interested. The reduction of the 5 per cents is a measure at once legal, just, useful, and opportune. In the question between the stockholder and the public, all the advantages have hitherto been on the side of the former. The law has declared his title indefeasible, and exempted it from every species of taxation. Is that not enough?—and is it necessary, in addition, to renounce for ever a liberation from the burden of interest which can alone alleviate the burden of the debt to the public? Matters have come to that point, that it is absolutely necessary to re-establish an equilibrium between the receipts and expenses, instead of a deficit of 15,000,000 or 20,000,000 francs (£600,000 or £800,000), which now exists. The Chamber has been long amused with statements of great economical measures, which have turned out rather an augmentation of expense. New taxes are impossible; they would cease to be productive. Here is a measure of economy which goes to save 25,000,000 francs (£1,000,000) yearly, and which would at once restore the finances. No time can be imagined so favourable for this great measure as the present, when the nation en- Ann. Hist. joys externally profound peace, when internal tranquillity Moniteur, prevails, and abundant harvests for several years have 1836. spread contentment through all classes of the community.2

xix. 38, 39;

Feb. 5,

XXXIII.

1836.

CHAP. The details of the measure, and the nature of the indemnity to be given to the stockholders, may be the subject of after consideration; but the Chamber should not lose a day in recognising the principle of the conversion."

50.

the stock

holders.

On the other hand, it was contended by M. Delessert: Answer for "It is not necessary to discuss the right of Government to effect such a reduction as is now proposed in perpetual annuities; although, when the same question was discussed in 1824 and 1825, it was seriously doubted by General Foy, and the most eminent of the Opposition of that period, whether Government had any such right, especially in regard to the original holders of the 3 per cents consolidated, seeing they have already undergone a reduction of two-thirds of their stock in 1797. But without pleading the case so high, it seems sufficient to observe, that the advantages of the proposed measure have been very much exaggerated, and its evils diminished. The entire saving, supposing the 5 per cents all reduced to 4, would only be 21,000,000 (£840,000), not 25,000,000; and at what price would this reduction be effected? By cutting off a fifth of the income of 180,000 proprietors, and stripping them on an average of 100 francs (£4) a-year, and leaving them only 400 francs to spend. And who compose the class whom it is thus proposed peculiarly to tax? Old men, widows, orphans, and minors, who have expended their little all on government securities, and who now are to meet with this return for having come forward to support it in perilous times. Possibly a year hence, should external and 1 Moniteur, internal peace continue so long, it may be possible to 1836; Ann. effect something of the kind; but at present we are much too near the period of insurrection, infernal machines, and conspiracies, to attempt it."1

Feb. 6,

Hist. xix.

40, 41.

The question derived its principal importance from its being understood that it was the touchstone of the Administration. It was no secret that the King was

XXXIII.

1836.

51.

the Minis

the moment,

their over

Feb. 6.

adverse to the conversion, at least at that time, as likely CHAP. to breed dissatisfaction, and possibly insurrection, in the capital; and the Ministers unanimously adhered to this opinion at the existing time. Their decided opinion Decision of was expressed to be-1st, That the measure proposed ters on the was well founded in right; 2d, That it involved a which is subject, resource considerable, and worthy of being taken into con- against it at sideration, though less than what was generally supposed; and leads to 3d, That it would inevitably be brought about in time; throw but, 4th, That at the present moment it was dangerous, if not impracticable, and likely, in the highest degree, to impair the internal tranquillity and external credit of France. Their decision, therefore, was, in the mean time, against entertaining the measure. On the other hand, as the proposal was founded on the report of the committee of the Chamber, passed by a large majority, it was evident that a direct collision between the executive and the legislature had taken place, which could not be avoided but by one or other of them being overthrown. The utmost anxiety was felt for the result. The vote was taken on the question, whether the proposal should immediately be taken into consideration, or adjourned ; and the former was carried, amidst extreme agitation, by 1 Moniteur, a majority of Two-the numbers being 194 to 192. The 1836; Ann. whole Ministers immediately resigned, and the King, 45, 53. having no other resource, accepted the resignations.1

Feb. 7,

Hist. xix.

stry: M.

The King had considerable difficulty in forming a 52. Cabinet, as might have been anticipated, when the former New Minione had been displaced by a vote of the Chamber in Thiers Preopposition to his wishes and its unanimous opinion. It mier. was evidently necessary to take the Premier from the Centre, as it was the junction of that body with the Left which had caused the overthrow of the former Administration. Great difficulties were, however, experienced in the selection to such a degree, indeed, that on the 15th February, the former Ministers were all officially summoned to the palace, which seemed to indicate that their

1

XXXIII.

1836.

Feb. 22,

Ann.

Hist. xii.

viii. 389,

394.

53.

CHAP. resignations would not be finally accepted. A list of the new Cabinet, with Count Molé at its head, was for some days in circulation; but at length, after an interregnum of above a fortnight, the names of the new Ministers appeared officially in the columns of the Moniteur. M. Thiers was President of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs; and the other Ministers bespoke a combination of parties, in which the Centre predominated, but in which the union of men of different principles was so Moniteur, evident, that no long endurance could be anticipated for 18:36; this more than any other coalition.* The step toward 69,70; Cap. democracy, however, was very apparent: the aristocratic element was entirely excluded, and the philosophic conservatism of M. Guizot no longer had a place in the Cabinet.1 M. THIERS, who thus at the age of forty was to be Political Prime Minister, and at the same time Foreign Minister M. Thiers. of France, was undoubtedly a very remarkable man. No one, even in revolutionary times, raises himself with no other aid but that of his own talents to such an eminence, who is not so. He is not, however, a great man : had he been such, he never would in all probability have attained that eminence; or if he had, he would speedily have lost it. He was not a man of original thought, settled conviction, or unbending character; there is no trace of the former to be found in his speeches or writings, or of the two latter in the various phases of his political career. But it was the very absence of these commanding qualities which occasioned his political success. It is in serious crises only, such as brought forward Mr Pitt on one side, and Napoleon on the other, that really great men obtain or can keep the lead in ordinary times they are shipwrecked by their own greatness

character of

* The Ministry of 22d February was as follows:-President of the Council and Foreign Affairs, M. Thiers; Keeper of the Seals and Minister of Justice, M. Sauzet; Minister of the Interior, M. Montalivet; of Commerce and Public Works, M. Passy; of Public Instruction, M. Pelet de Lozère; of War, Marshal Maison; of the Marine, Admiral Duperré; of Finance, M. d'Argout. -Moniteur, 22d February 1836.