The Notables
were not so self-sacrificing, however, and contented themselves with
abolishing compulsory labor on the roads, voting to have provincial
assemblies established, and demanding the dismissal of Calonne, the
minister of finance. The question of taxation, they said, should be
referred to the Estates-General. All this helped the treasury in no
material way.
[Sidenote: Convocation of the Estates-General]
A new minister of finance, who succeeded Calonne,--Archbishop Lomenie
de Brienne,--politely thanked the Notables and sent them home. He made
so many fine promises that hope temporarily revived, and a new loan was
raised. But the Parlement of Paris, which together with the other
Parlements had been restored early in the reign of Louis XVI, soon saw
through the artifices of the suave minister, and positively refused to
register further loans or taxes. Encouraged by popular approval, the
Parlement went on to draw up a declaration of rights, and to assert
that subsidies could constitutionally be granted only by the nation's
representatives--the ancient Estates-General.
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