OPPOSITION TO tre get React Ae yeh Au get HLOUIS Kiva “LOUIS XIV# ERD Wale EG Cale P ROSE PERE PBR, GAR, WR, THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL ORIGINS OF THE FRENCH ENLIGHTENMENT BY LIONEL ROTHKRUG PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS 1965 eyater Cry CHAPTER V THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIAN AGRARIANISM, 1684-1697 ‘Tue pecape following Colbert's death saw divergent factors combine so as to produce an active and in- tensely devout political group which developed both an ideology and a program for reform. At this time j of public protest a Christian agrarianism found its ; immediate inspiration in a new kind of criticism which had been first, but very briefly, expressed by Fénelon’s friend, Claude Fleury, in 1670-1675, dur- ing the worst years of Golbert’s administration, At. tention was drawn to Fleury in 1687 because the re- ports of investigating commissions of that year ap- peared to confirm his arguments. It was this conver- gence of thought and circumstance, the apparent con- formity of theory with fact, which inspired reformers, in 1688 to submit a memoir to Louis XIV contain- ing judicious paraphrases from both Fleury and the subsequent report of 1687. This memoir provided the basis for an ideology and a program for reform. From the point of view of developed theory the memoir was totally inadequate, but for the history of ideas, the document is of major importance. All of its prin. cipal arguments were incorporated in the more fully elaborated form of Christian agrarianism which Fénelon developed after the great famine of 1693- 1694. 234 CHRISTIAN AGRARIANISM i, rue REPORT oF 1687 ‘The problem of rural depression, most urgent in the years immediately following Colbert's death, often proved perplexing to government officials be cause they had no means to measure its precise ex- tent, In this regard there is an important exchange of letters in 1682 between Colbert and Morant, in- tendant in Provence. During the first decades of the reign, Colbert, receiving frequent complaints from intendants that a region could not meet this or that fiscal obligation, often expressed skepticism and even frank disbelief. He knew that the well-known pop- ular hatred of taxes was matched only by peasant ingenuity in seeking to avoid payment. Occasionally peasants even succeeded in persuading the intendant that they were destitute when they were not. Report of such tactics prompted Colbert to answer Morant in the following terms: His Majesty has not been persuaded of this province's great misery nor has much credence been given to the inflated terms of exaggeration ‘met with in all Letters If you wish individually to judge well and reasonably if there is misery in the province, consider whether population has declined in the cities, if trade, if marriages have diminished, if the price of offices, lands and houses has de- creased... ‘Taking the Controller General at his word, Morant wrote an unexpected reply on 7 November 1682; it merits particular attention, because Colbert's sugges- Pierre Clément, Lettres, instructions et mémoites de Colbert, 7 vols, Paris, 1863-1889, IV, 141-aga 235THE MOVEMENT FOR REFORM 1684-1700 tions, actually applied by Morant, became standard procedures for the great, publicized investigating ‘Commissions of the following decade. Explaining that he had personally applied "the methods you kindly showed me to be the most certain for revealing the true state of cities and the strength or feebleness of provinces,” Morant concluded that his jurisdiction wwas impoverished to a dangerous degree. “Games, Feasts and all other occasions for spending are almost entirely abolished.” People did not even speak of “their terrible losses because they don't gamble any more.” Funerals for distinguished persons of quality, ceremonies “conserving a certain clegance for the Tongest time,” had become simple and austere. Only a few ordinary ceremonies had taken place. More: over, “I see neither expensive furniture nor any re- cently erected handsome buildings in Aix or in any other of the principal cities.” sbi, pp anit, Baler, on 12 September 1670, Colbert in song’ BE endant at Toure, Vora de Ia Noiaye, to examine ra es are crewed, he Caraitare, and se Hf hey ae sae Peet holldas and at weddings than they have been in the pace (Pld Ml, Part ME pe 35 Mal) me ‘ales fe inte ane, Marl Ge Sy Dug de Monier a eeppolnted governor fo tie Dauphin im September (yeu ban SEEyeen 168) and 6p. Montauser composed sv aoe pore uantng of instruction forthe Dauphin. (BN. Fs. SP nTSes abgsogg) One of them rete a lows. pe Mie rene compte cxacement par ls Intendans pail paerear lev gaa, por le enone, a8 Besser pur ies paymmr se Vata des provincs dee aaa ae spat de a joye ou dei rene, de fs ene ets der nobles et des penples de la campagne et det dont ent derment ou commodement, ou peiement ct 2¥e¢ in Ae erect ry rele aan y lait ds fete a on # divert daar seven pi, on y ot Hen 04 mal meublé are fre sae oo, Te comme y eat 087 gle Tange YO ew le favors, fat quil informe de beaut Foe reese cane nature, par Yexqulles il peut voir TEAt ames cove os ipour oe conde et pTEMOKe eb meses Sr 236 CHRISTIAN AGRARIANISM Morant's letter stands at the beginning of a series of events which transformed the problem of rural relief into a burning public issue. The greater part of Colbert’s ministry, as we have seen, was a period of abundant harvests and depressed cereal prices. Small farmers and agricultural workers, particularly hard hit, found it increasingly difficult to meet the iaille, the gabelle, and other fiscal charges requiring a money payment, and many of them went into debt or fell behind in their taxes. At this point, with cash reserves depleted, they were especially vulnerable to crop failure. Fixed charges paid in kind (the tithe, seignorial dues, etc.) would consume most of a mea: ger harvest, and the farmer would have neither enough cereal to feed his family until the next har- vest nor sufficient funds to purchase grain at the high prices brought about by scarcity. One of these abrupt transitions from several years of abundance and de- pressed farm income to a year of scarcity and high prices occurred in 1684-1685." The consequences were disastrous. On 51 March and on 19 April 1684 La Reynie, Lieutenant General of Police in Paris, received two anonymous memoirs which, describing a desolate countryside, explained that povertystricken peasants, many of whom were ficeing the realm, were “no longer able to pay taxes, ela afin de les assister et pourvoir aux besine de tout le monde & propos (BN., Fas. f, a2, MS r06ge, £275) See the tablet in Pierre Goubert, Brewunie et fe Beowsnisis de ‘contribution & Vhistoire rociale de la France du XVI© 1960, p. 403, and also the numerous elaborate graphs Jn the accompanying volume. See also the tables and graphs in M. Baulant and J. Meuveet, Prix des eéveales extvaits de la Mercuriate de Paris (2530-1608), 2 vols, Parle, re60°1962, Th. 4A. de Bolslsle, Mémoire de la généralté de Paris, Pars, 1861, pp. 704-707. The documents vaise the isue of emigration of nom Prowstane Frenchmen. Warten C. Seoville, The Persecution of the Huguenots and French Economic Development 1680-1720, Berkeley 237