g more than financial ability: he had a
deep feeling of patriotism and a high sense of personal honor. The
difficulties in his way were great, but he steadily endeavored to
keep France faithful to those principles in monetary affairs which the
general experience of modern times had found the only path to national
safety. As difficulties arose the National Assembly drew away from him,
and soon came among the members renewed suggestions of paper money:
orators in public meetings, at the clubs and in the Assembly, proclaimed
it a panacea--a way of "securing resources without paying interest."
Journalists caught it up and displayed its beauties, among these men,
Marat, who, in his newspaper, "The Friend of the People," also joined
the cries against Necker, picturing him--a man of sterling honesty, who
gave up health and fortune for the sake of France--as a wretch seeking
only to enrich himself from the public purse.

Against this tendency toward the issue of irredeemable paper Necker
contended as best he might. He knew well to what it always had led,
even when surrounded by the most skillful guarantees. Among those who
struggled to support ideas similar to his was Bergasse, a deputy from
Lyons, whose pamphlets, then and later, against such issues exerted a
wider influence, perhaps, than any others: parts of them seem fairly
inspired. Any one to-day reading his prophecies of the evils sure to
follow such a currency would certainly ascribe to him a miraculous
foresight, were it not so clear that his prophetic power was due simply
to a knowledge of natural laws revealed by history. But this current in
favor of paper money became so strong that an effort was made to breast
it by a compromise: and during the last months of 1789 and the first
months of 1790 came discussions in the National Assembly looking to
issues of notes based upon the landed property of the Church,--which was
to be confiscated for that purpose. But care was to be taken; the issue
was to be largely in the shape of notes of 1,000, 300 and 200 _livres_,
too large to be used as ordinary currency, but of convenient size to
be used in purchasing the Church lands; besides this, they were to bear
interest and this would tempt holders to hoard them. The Assembly thus
held back from issuing smaller obligations.

Remembrances of the ruin which had come from the great issues of smaller
currency at an earlier day were still vivid. Yet the pressure toward
a popular curre