In his statistical writings (Détail de la France sous le règne présent ,1697;Factum de la France ,1707),he brings out ingloomy colours the dark side of the age of Louis XIV,and in his theoretic works (Traitéde la nature et du commerce desgrains ;Dissertations sur la nature des reichesses de l'argent et des tributs ;and Essai sur la raretéde l'argent )he appearsas an earnest,even passionate,antagonist of the mercantile school.He insists again and again on the fact that national wealthdoes not consist in gold and silver,but in useful things,foremost among which are the products of agriculture.He even goesso far as to speak of "argent criminel,"which from being the slave of trade,as it ought to be,had become its tyrant.He setsthe "genuinely French Sully"far above the "Italianising Colbert,"and condemns all arbitrary regulations affecting eitherforeign or internal commerce,especially as regards the corn trade.National wealth does not depend on Governments,whoseinterference does more harm than good;the natural laws of the economic order of things cannot be violated or neglectedwith impunity;the interests ot the several classes of society in a system of freedom are identical,and those of individualscoincide with that of the state.A similar solidarity exists between different nations;in their economic dealings they arerelated to the world as individual towns to a nation,and not merely plenty,but peace and harmony,will result from theirunfettered intercourse.Men he divides into two classes --those who do nothing and enjoy everything,and those who labourfrom morning to night often without earning a bare subsistence;the latter he would favour in every way.Here we catch thebreath of popular sympathy which fills the social atmosphere of the eighteenth century.He dwells with special emphasis onthe claims of agriculture,which had in France fallen into unmerited neglect,and with a view to its improvement calls for areform in taxation.He would replace indirect taxes by taxes on income,and would restore the payment of taxes in kind,withthe object of securing equality of burden and eliminating every element of the arbitrary.He has some interesting views of ageneral character:thus he approximates to a correct conception of agricultural rent,and he points to the order in whichhuman wants follow each other --those of necessity,convenience,comfort,superfluity,and ostentation succeeding in theorder named,and ceasing in the inverse order to be felt as wealth decreases.The depreciating tone in which Voltaire speaksof Boisguillebert (Siècle de Louis XIV ,chap 30)is certainly not justified;he had a great economic talent,and his writingscontain important germs of truth.But he appears to have exerted little influence,theoretical or practical,in his own time.
The same general line of thought was followed by Marshal de Vauban (1633-1707)in his economic tracts,especially thatbearing the title of Projet d'une dixme Royale ,1707,which was suppressed by the authorities,and lost for him the favour ofhis sovereign,but has added lustre to his name in the judgment of posterity.He is deeply impressed with the deplorablecondition of the working classes of France in his day.He urges that the aim of the Government should be the welfare of allorders of the community;that all are entitled to like favour and furtherance;that the often despised and wronged lower classis the basis of the social organisation;that labour is the foundation of all wealth,and agriculture the most important speciesof labour;that the most essential condition of successful industry is freedom;and that all unnecessary or excessiverestrictions on manufactures and commerce should be swept away.He protests in particular against the inequalities oftaxation,and the exemptions and privileges enjoyed by the higher ranks.With the exception of some duties on consumptionhe would abolish all the existing taxes,and substitute for them a single tax on income and land,impartially applied to allclasses,which he describes under the name of "Dixme Royale,"that is to say,a tenth in kind of all agricultural produce,anda tenth of money income chargeable on manufacturers and traders.(1)The liberal and humane spirit of Fénelon led him to aspire after freedom of commerce with foreign nations,and to preach thedoctrine that the true superiority of one state over another lies in the number indeed,but also in the morality,intelligence,and industrious habits of its population,The Télémaque ,in which these views were presented in an attractive form,waswelcomed and read amongst all ranks and classes,and was thus an effective organ for the propagation of opinion.
After these witers there is a marked blank in the field of French economic thought,broken only by the Réflexions Politiquessur les Finances et le Commerce 19738)of Dutot,a pupil of Law,and the semi-mercantilist Essais Politiques sure leCommerce (1731)of Mélon,till we come to the great name of Montesquieu.The Esprit des Lois (1748),so far as it dealswith economic subjects,is written upon the whole from a point of view adverse to the mercantile system,especially in histreatment of money,though in his observations on colonies and elsewhere he falls in with the ideas of that system.Hisimmortal service,however,was not rendered by any special research,but by his enforcement of the doctrine of natural lawsregulating social no less than physical phenomena.There is no other thinker of importance on economic subjects in Francetill the appearance of the physiocrats,which marks an epoch in the history of the science.
