rangers who happened to fall into their company,
the talk of the economists always ran much on the net product and the
single tax, for they believed the two great needs of the country were
agricultural improvement and financial reform. When Quesnay was
offered a farmer-generalship of the taxes for his son, he said, "No;
let the welfare of my children be bound up with the public
prosperity," and made his son a farmer of the land instead.

In Quesnay's rooms in the palace of Versailles Smith would sometimes
hear words that would sound very strange in the house of the king.
Mercier de la Riviere, Quesnay's favourite disciple, while writing his
book on the _Natural and Essential Order of Political Societies_,
published in 1767, almost lived in Quesnay's apartments, discussing
the work point by point with the master. The Marquis de Mirabeau
mentions having seen him there six whole weeks running, "moulding and
remoulding his work, and consequently denying father and mother" for
the time. One day Madame du Hausset heard a memorable conversation
there between these two economists. "This kingdom," observed Mirabeau,
"is in a miserable state. There is neither energy in the nation nor
money to serve in its place." "No," replied Mercier de la Riviere,
counsellor of the Parliament of Paris and late Governor of Martinico,
"it cannot be regenerated except by a conquest like that of China, or
by a great internal convulsion; but woe to those who will be there
then, for the French people does nothing by halves." The words made
the little lady-in-waiting tremble, and she hurried out of the room;
but M. de Marigny, brother of the king's mistress, who was also
present, followed her, and bade her have no fear, for these were
honest men, if a little chimerical, and they were even, he thought,
on the right road, though they knew not when to stop and went past the
goal.[182]

The doctor's room was a little sanctuary of free speech pitched by an
odd chance in the heart of a despotic court, but his loyalty was known
to be as sterling as his patriotism, and Louis himself would come
round and listen to his economic parables, and call him the king's
thinker?-as indeed he was, for he was no believer in states-general or
states-particular, he had no interest in court or party intrigues, and
his thought was always for the power of the king as well as for the
welfare of the people. Marmontel, who used to come to him feigning an
interest in the net pro