d that the loans resorted to, in order to avoid the
imposition of taxes, have been the source of the mischief which has
reduced the finances to their present alarming condition.

As to his _compte rendu_; he has been forgiven the nauseous panegyric
which he has passed upon himself, and the affectation of introducing
his wife into it, for the purpose of praising her; and we are spared
the trouble of examining his false calculations. M. de Calonne has
undertaken this investigation. Without being able to vindicate himself,
he has already begun to unmask his antagonist, and he promises to do it
effectually.

Necessity has recalled this man to the ministry: and it must be
confessed, that he is beyond comparison a less mischievous minister
than his predecessors. I would compare him to a steward, who, by his
management, does not entirely ruin his master, but who enriches himself
at his expense. The desire of glory should inspire him as much as
possible with the energy requisite for the public business. There is
every likelihood that his ministry will not endure long enough, to cause
it to feel the effects of his false principles of administration: and
it is he alone who is able, if any one can, to preserve order in the
finances, until the reform is effected which we hope from the assembling
of the States General. In the mean time, the public estimation of his
talents and virtue is not so high as it has been. There are persons who
pretend that he is more firmly established in public opinion than he
ever was. They deceive themselves. The ambitious desire he has always
manifested of getting again into the administration, his work on the
Importance of Religious Opinions, and the Memoires of M. de Calonne,
have greatly impaired his reputation.

LETTER CCVII.--TO JAMES MADISON, June 18, 1789

TO JAMES MADISON.

Paris, June 18, 1789.

Sir,

My last to you was of May the 11th. Yours of March the 29th came to
hand ten days ago; and about two days ago, I received a cover of your
hand-writing, under which were a New York paper of May the 4th, and a
letter from Mr. Page to Mazzei. There being no letter from you, makes me
hope there is one on the way, which will inform me of my _conge_. I
have never received Mr. Jay's answer to my public letter of November the
19th, which you mention him to have written, and which I fear has been
intercepted. I know only from you, that my letter got safe to hand. My
baggage has been made