ent and full of promises, he
succeeded in imparting a gleam of sunshine, and pursued a plan
directly the opposite to that adopted by Necker. He encouraged the
extravagance of the court, derided the future, and warded off pressing
debts by contracting new ones. He pleased all classes by his
captivating manners, brilliant conversation, and elegant dress. The
king, furnished with what money he wanted, forgot the burdens of the
people, and the minister went on recklessly contracting new loans, and
studiously concealing from the public the extent of the annual
deficit.

But such a policy could not long be adopted successfully, and the
people were overwhelmed with amazement when it finally appeared that,
since the retirement of Necker in 1781, Calonne had added sixteen
hundred and forty-six millions of francs to the public debt. National
bankruptcy stared every body in the face. It was necessary that an
extraordinary movement should be made; and Calonne recommended the
assembling of the Notables, a body composed chiefly of the nobility,
clergy, and magistracy, with the hope that these aristocrats would
consent to their own taxation.

He was miserably mistaken. The Notables met, (1787,) the first time
since the reign of Henry IV., and demanded the dismissal of the
minister, who was succeeded by Brienne, Archbishop of Toulouse.

He was a weak man, and owed his elevation to his influence with women.
He won the queen by his pleasing conversation, but had no solid
acquirements. Occupying one of the highest positions in his church, he
yet threw himself into the arms of atheistical philosophers. A man so
inconsistent and so light was not fit for his place.

However, the Notables agreed to what they had refused to Calonne. They
consented to a land tax, to the stamp duty, to provincial assemblies,
and to the suppression of the gratuitous service of vassals. These
were popular measures, but were insufficient. Brienne was under the
necessity of proposing the imposition of new taxes. But the Parliament
of Paris refused to register the edict. A struggle between the king
and the parliament resulted; and the king, in order to secure the
registration of new taxes, resorted to the _bed of justice_--the last
stretch of his royal power.

[Sidenote: States General.]

During one of the meetings of the parliament, when the abuses and
prodigality of the court were denounced, a member, punning upon the
word _etats_, (statements,) exclaimed,