rsailles instead of a low-born courtesan, the
difference was not great in the matter of outward dignity, and
especially of the expenditure of public money. Millions that cannot be
computed for lack of proper accounts were poured out for the Queen's
amusements and for the Queen's favourites, men and women.

It was the Controleur whose function was to fill the Court's bottomless
purse. Under this strain and that of the American war, a man of {38}
humble origin but of good repute as an economist and accountant was
called to the office, the Geneva banker, Jacques Necker. For three
years he attempted to carry the burden of the war by small economies
effected at many points, which produced the minimum of result with the
maximum of friction. Finally, in 1781, the Queen drove him from
office. Necker himself provided the excuse by the publication of his
_Compte rendu_, a pamphlet which first put the financial crisis fairly
before the public.

All that the public knew up to this time was that while the Court
maintained its splendour and extravagance, the economic and financial
situation was rapidly getting worse. There was no systematic audit,
there was no budget, there was no annual account published, so that the
finances remained a sealed book, a private matter concerning the King
of France only. But here, in Necker's pamphlet, was an account of
those finances, that revealed to a certain extent the state of affairs,
and, which was even more important, that constituted an appeal to the
public to judge the King's administration. Louis was furious at his
minister's step, and not only dismissed him, but banished him from
Paris.

{39} From 1783 to 1787 the finances were in the hands of Calonne, whose
management proved decisive and fatal. His dominant idea was that of a
courtier,--always to honour any demand made on the treasury by the King
or Queen. To do less would be unworthy of a _gentilhomme_ and a
devoted servant of their Majesties. So Calonne, bowing gracefully,
smiling reassuringly, embarked on a fatal course, borrowing where he
could, anticipating in one direction, defaulting in another, but
always, and somehow, producing the louis necessary to the enjoyment of
the present moment. He reached the end of his tether towards the close
of 1786.

It was during Calonne's administration that occurred the famous affair
of the diamond necklace. It was a vulgar swindle worked on the
Cardinal de Rohan by an adventuress