Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 12.djvu/536

LOUIS XV. 478 LOUIS XVI. Bisfoire philosophiijue dii rigne de Louis XV, ,(ib., ]84(i). LOUIS XVI. (1754-93). King of France from 1774 to 1792. He was the third son of the Dauphin Louis, only son of Louis XV., and was born at Versailles, August 2.3, 1754. By the deaUi of liis father and his elder brothers he became Dauphin (1765). He was a lover of hunting and manly exercises, showed an aptitude for mathematics and nieclianics, and in the midst of the rao.st corrupt of courts, he grew up temper- ate, lionest, and moral: but he was a weak and incapable ruler. He was married May 16, 1770. to Marie Antoinette, the youngest daugliter of the Empress Maria Theresa. Wlien Louis as- cended the tlirone, misery and discontent pre- vailed Ihroughout France. He lacked the vigor and judgment necessary for the circumstances. but was conscious of his own weakness. He made Maurepas. an old courtier, his Prime Jlinister: but among his ministers were ilalesherbes. Tur- got, and other men of known patriotism; and his accession was signalized l)V the remission of some of the odious taxes, the abolition of the relics of serfdom and of the torture in Judicial investi- gations, a reduction of the expenditure of the ('ourt. and the foundation of institutions for the Ijcnefit of the working classes. He was. for a time, popular; but deep-reaching reforms were rendered impossible l)y the opposition of the Court, headed by the pleasure-loving Marie An- toinette. Turgot resigned in 1776^ In .Tune, 1777. when the state of the finances seemed near- ly desperate, Necker (q.v.) was called to the office of Comptroller-General, and succeeded in bringing them to a more tolerable condition, without any very radical change ; but after the interference of France in the American War of Independence, he was obliged to propose the tax- ation of the privileged classes, hitherto exempted. Their resistance compelled him to resign, and Joly de Fleury succeeded him ; hut the general discontent induced the King, in 178."?, to ap- point as Comptroller-General Calonne (q.v.). who found money for a time by borrowing, much to the satisfaction of the courtiers. But the in- dignation of the people increasing. Calonne found it necessary to recommend the convening of an Assembly of Notables (q.v.). On May 1, 1787, the Archbishop LomOnie de Brienne became Finance Minister. He obtained from the Notables some concessions and some new taxes. But the Parlement of Paris refused to register the edicts of taxation, as oppressive to the people; and the extravagance of the Court and the Queen began to be freely spoken of. The convening of the States-General was demanded from every corner of France. The King registered the edicts in a lit de justice, and banished the councilors of the Parlement to Troyes. but ere long found it necessary to recall them, and met an even stronger opposition than before. Recognizing the hopelessness of reform. Brienne was com- pelled to resign, and Necker again became Min- ister in August. 1788. An assembly of the Es- tates of the Kingdom was resolved upon, and by the advice of Necker. wlio wished a counter- poise to the influence of the nobility, clergy, and Court, the Third Estate was called in double number. The subsequent history of Louis XVI. is inseparably connected with the events of the first four years of the French Revolution (q.v.). His total lack of purpose at a time of crisis when decision was imperative proved his ruin. He wavered between the cause of the Revolution and the counsels of the Royalists and succeeded in losing the confidence of both parties. In- fluenced by the resolute attitude of the Third Estate, he ordered the nobility and the clergy to join the former in the National .Assembly; yet this was followed, on .Inly 11. 1780. by the dismissal of Necker, whom, however, popular in- dignation compelled the King to recall. On October 5th a Parisian niob, composed mostly of women, incited by the rumor of Royalist plot- tings, niarclied upon Versailles and on the fol- lowing day brought the royal family to Paris, where they made their home in the Tuileries. With the death of Mirabeau (q.v.) the last chance of reconciliation between the monarchy and the National Assembly disappeared, and on the night of June 20-21, 1701. the royal family mailc their unfortunate attempt to escape to the east- ern frontier, where Bouille (q.v.), commander nf the troops at Metz, a Royalist in sympathies, was prepared to lend them succor. At 8ainli- Menehould the King and his family were recog- nized by Drouet. the son of the postmaster, who pursued them into Varennes, where he raised an alarm and caused the fugitives to be seized. The King returned to Paris, and from that day bis fall was inevitable, the Hight to Varennes having served to confirm the general reports concern- ing the King's negotiations with the foreign Powers for the overthrow of the newly conquered liberties of the nation. On September 14. 17111, he took the oath to the new Constitution, but his deposition had already been decided on by the party of the Gironde. On .Tune 20, 1792. an organized mob invaded the Tuileries. forced the King to don the liberty ca]!. and departed after heaping insults on the unhappy Marie Antoinette. On August loth a still more formidable mob stormed the Tuileries. massacred the Swiss Guard (q.v.). and conipelled the royal family to seek refuge in the hall of the Assembly. The King was suspended from his functions and sent a prisoner to the Temple. The Convention which met on September 21st immediately proclaimed France a republic, and in December the deposed King was brought to trial before the Convention on charges of treason. The King defended him- self with dignity, but neither his own words nor the eloquence of his counsel ( JIalesherbes. Due de S^zes) could avail against the evident deter- mination of the Mountain to bring about his death. The King was found guilty, and on .Taniiary 10. 17ll.'5. was condemned to death, by 3fil to 360. The Girondists who were opposed to the extreme penalty were forced to vote for death out of fear of the Mountain. On January 21st Louis was guillotined on the Place de la Revolution, protesting his innocence and praying for the welfare of his people. Louis XVI. had two sons, of whom the elder died in 1789. the other becoming Dauphin (see Louis XVII.), and a daughter. Madame Royale. known as the Duchess of Angouli'nie. Consult: Bouvet, Histoire de Louis XVI. (Paris. 1825) ; Droz, Histoire du regne de Louis XTT. (ib.. 1818) ; Falloux, Louis' XTI. (4th ed.. ib:. 1860); .To- bez. La France sous Jmuis XVJ. (ib.. 1877-93) ; Beaucourt, Captii-ite et derniers moments de Louis Xri. (ib.. 1892) ; Courian. Louis XVL et la R<?volufio}i (ib., 1893). See France; Fkexch Revolution.