Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/326

312 N E C N E C to be inconsistent with any fact, that it is almost a necessary consequence of the only theory by which we can account for the origin and conservation of the sun s heat, but that it rests on the assumption that this conservation is to be explained by the laws of nature as we now see them in operation. Should any one be sceptical as to the sufficiency of these laws to account for the present state of things, science can furnish no evidence strong enough to overthrow his doubts until the sun shall be found growing smaller by actual measurement, or the nebulae be actually seen to condense into stars and systems." (R. s. B.) NECHO, the Biblical form (2 Kings xxiii. 29 ; Jerem. xlvi. 2) of the name Neku ; see EGYPT, vol. vii. p. 743, and ISRAEL, vol. xiii. p. 416. NECKER, JACQUES (1732-1804), finance minister of Louis XVL, and convener of the states-general of 1789, was born at Geneva in 1732. His father was a native of Ciistrin in Pomerania, and had, after the publication of some works on international law, been elected professor of public law at Geneva. Jacques Necker had been sent to Paris in 1747 to become a clerk in the bank of a friend of his father, M. Vernet. He soon afterwards established, with another Genevese, the famous bank of Thelusson & Necker. Thelusson superintended the bank in London (his grandson was made a peer as Lord Eendlesham), while Necker was managing partner in Paris. Between them the bank prospered, and both partners became very rich. He chiefly occupied himself in his bank, but in 1763 fell in love with Madame de Vermeneux, the widow of a French officer. She could not make up her mind to marry any one who Avas not noble, and, while considering his offer, she went on a visit to Geneva, where she met Suzanne Curchod, the daughter of a pastor near Lausanne, to whom Gibbon had been engaged, and took such a fancy to her that she brought her back as her companion to Paris in 1764. There Necker, transferring his love from the widow to the poor Swiss girl, married Suzanne before the end of the year. She was extremely ambitious, and encouraged her husband to try and make himself a public position. He accordingly became a syndic or director of the French East India Company, and, after showing his financial ability in its management, defended it in an able memoir against the attacks of Morellet in 1769. He had also made interest with the French Government by lending it money, and was appointed resident at Paris by the republic of Geneva. Madame Necker assisted his ambi tious views by entertaining largely the chief leaders of the political, financial, and literary worlds of Paris, and her Fridays became as greatly frequented as the Mondays of Madame Geoffrin, or the Tuesdays of Madame Helvetius. In 1773 Necker won the prize of the Academic Fra^aise for an eloye on Colbert, and in 1775 published his Essai sur la legislation et le commerce des grains, in which he attacked the free-trade policy of Turgot. His wife now believed he could get into office as a great financier, and made him give up his share in the bank, which he trans ferred to his brother Louis. She was right, and in October 1776 Necker was made finance minister of France, though with the title only of director of the treasury, which, how ever, he changed in 1777 for that of director-general of the finances. He did great good in regulating the finances by attempting to divide the taille or poll tax more equally, by abolishing the " vingtieme d industrie," and establishing " monts du pie"teV But his greatest financial measures were his attempt to fund the French debt and his establish ment of annuities under the guarantee of the state. The operation of funding was too difficult in regard to the com plicated French debt to be suddenly accomplished, and Necker rather pointed out the right line to be followed than completed the operation. In all this he treated French finance rather as a banker than as a profound political economist, and thus fell far short of Turgot, who was the very greatest economist of his day. Politically he did not do much to stave off the coming Revolution, and his- establishment of provincial assemblies in the "pays d elec- tion " only tended to keep France disunited. In 1781 he published his famous Compte Rendu, in which he drew the balance sheet of France, and was dismissed from his office. Yet his dismissal was not really due to his book, but to- the influence of Marie Antoinette, whose schemes for bene fiting the Due de Guines he had thwarted. In retirement he occupied himself with literature, and with his daughter, Mdlle Necker, who was his only child, and would be a wealthy heiress. He first attempted to procure the young- English statesman Mr Pitt for her husband, but eventually chose the Swedish Baron Erik Magnus von Stael-Holstein, on condition that his master made him Swedish ambassador at Paris. Gustavus III. was quite willing, and in 1785 Mdlle Necker became Madame de Stael. But neither M. nor Madame Necker cared to remain out of office, and in 1787 Necker was banished by "lettre de cachet" 40 leagues from Paris for attacking Calonne. In 1788 the country, which had at the bidding of the literary guests of Madame Necker come to believe that Necker was the only- minister who could "stop the deficit," as they said, demanded Necker s recall, and in September 1788 he became once more director-general of the finances. He entered office at a critical moment : Dauphin^ was in actual rebellion, and France was crying out for the summons of the states-general. Necker put a stop to the rebellion in Dauphine by legalizing its assembly, and then set to> work to arrange for the summons of the states-general. Throughout the early months of 1789 Necker was regarded as the saviour of France, but his conduct at the meeting of the states-general sufficiently proved that he was not a great statesman, and showed that he regarded the states- general merely as an assembly which should grant money,, not organize reforms. The same want of statesmanship appeared in his vacillating conduct with regard to the reunion of the three orders, when he allowed the king to- be forced by the assembly instead of taking the lead in ordering the reunion. He was nevertheless regarded as the cause of the Revolution by the court, and on July 11,, while at dinner, received the abrupt order to leave France at once. But Necker s dismissal brought about the taking of the Bastille, which induced the king to recall his old minister. His return was an absolute ovation, and he was received with joy in every city he traversed. But at Paris he again proved to be no statesman. In his conceit he believed he could save France alone, and refused to> act with Mirabeau or La Fayette. He caused the king s acceptance of the suspensive veto, by which he sacrificed his chief prerogative in September, and destroyed all chance of a strong executive by contriving the decree of November 7, by which the ministry might not be chosen from the assembly. Financially he proved equally incap able for a time of crisis, and could not understand the need of such extreme measures as the establishment of assignats in order to keep the country quiet. His popularity- vanished when his only idea was to ask the assembly for new loans, and in September 1790 he resigned his office, unregretted by a single Frenchman. Not without diffi culty he reached Coppet, near Geneva, an estate he had bought in 1784. Here he occupied himself with literature, but Madame Necker pined for her Paris salon, and died in 1794. He continued to live on at Coppet, under the care of his daughter, Madame de Stael, and his niece, Madame Necker de Saussure, but his time was past, and his books- had no political influence. A momentary excitement was, caused by the advance of the French armies in 1798, when