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 to impress this doctrine upon the minds of the younger members of the bar. Such, in particular, was the object of his discourse, pronounced in 1695, Sur l’Union de la Philosophie et de l’Eloquence. The same subject is treated at greater length, and in a more systematic and preceptive manner, in a treatise, written at a later period, under the title of Instructions sur l’Etude et les Exercices qui peuvent preparer aux Fonctions d’Avocat du Roi. These pieces (Œuvres, Tom. 1) are written in a clear, manly, and harmonious style, and are well worthy the attention of the general scholar, for their critical strictures on those authors whom he recommends to the students of law.

In the year 1700 he was appointed Procurator-general;—an office of higher dignity, and imposing more various and extensive duties, than that of advocate-general. He filled this office for seventeen years with the most splendid reputation; adding, by his lenity in criminal cases, and by his care of the public hospitals, the praise of humanity and benevolence to his other claims to the admiration of his country-men. The political philosopher of the present day will probably, however, be inclined to question the justness of the encomiums bestowed upon his exertions during the severe scarcity of 1709; on which occasion, he appears to have instituted the most rigorous proceedings against those who were held up as enemies of their country and of mankind, under the names of forestallers and monopolists. But, in alluding to this part of his conduct, it may be proper to mention, that his opposition, at an after period, to the delusive projects of the famous John Law, and his elaborate treatise upon the subject of Money, (Œuvres, Tom. X.) afford undeniable proofs of the soundness of his views, in regard to some of the most important principles of political economy.

It had been early predicted of D’Aguesseau, that he would one day fill the place of Chancellor; and this prediction was at length realized in 1717, upon the death of Voisin, who then held the seals. Though he was yet little more than forty-eight years of age, his nomination to this high dignity gave general satisfaction; and was, indeed, intended as a popular measure by the Duke of Orleans, who had lately assumed the regency. His brother Valjouan, a man of abilities, but slothful and a humourist, was the only person who spoke with indifference on the occasion. “Rather you than I, brother,” was his only remark when the new Chancellor hastened to him to announce his appointment. In fact, D’Aguesseau was soon made to experience the storms attendant upon this lofty station; for he had not been installed above a year, when he was deprived of the seals, and exiled to his estate. His steady opposition to the extravagant projects of Law, with which the regent and his ministers were wholly intoxicated, was the honourable cause of this first reverse of his fortune. In 1720, when the ruinous consequences of these schemes had filled the nation with distress and alarm, the chancellor was recalled from banishment; and he contributed not a little, by the firmness and sagacity of his counsels, to calm the public murmurs, and repair the mischiefs which had been committed.

Law himself had acted as the messenger of his recall; and it is said, that D’Aguesseau’s consent to re-accept the seals from the hand of this adventurer, was much blamed by the literary corps, with which he had hitherto stood in high favour, as well as by the parliament. But his reputation appears to have sustained a much severer shock, when he endeavoured to prevail with the latter body, to register the declaration of the late king in favour of the famous bull Unigenitus;—a measure which they held in great abhorrence, and which he had himself firmly opposed during the life af Lewis. The regent’s favourite Dubois, then Archbishop of Cambray, had moved his master to insist upon this act of registration, in the hope that he might thereby obtain for himself a Cardinal’s hat; and it seems to have been thought, that the Chancellor had yielded his better opinion in compliance with the wishes of this worthless minion. Be this as it may, it is certain that he opposed the favourite with firmness, when he attempted, after being made prime minister, to take precedence in the council; and he was in consequence, in 1722, sent a second time into exile.

He now passed five years on his estate at Fresnes; and he always spoke with delight of this tranquil period, when he was left free from the cares of professional duty, and the distractions of public life, to cultivate his mind. The Scriptures, which he read and compared in various languages, and the laws of his own and other countries, formed the subjects of his more serious studies; the rest of his time was devoted to philosophy and literature, and the improvement of his park, where he was sometimes to be seen employed with a spade.

From these noble and congenial occupations he was again recalled, by the advice of Cardinal Fleury, in 1727; but the seals were not restored to him till ten years thereafter. During the intervening period, he had endeavoured to mediate in the new disputes which had arisen between the court and the parliament; but his interference seems to have given satisfaction to neither party; the one reproaching him with desertion from their cause, and the other with too great a leaning towards it. When the seals were at last restored to him, he completely withdrew from all affairs of state, and devoted himself entirely to his duties as Chancellor, and to the introduction of those reforms which had long occupied his inquiries and meditations.

Besides some important enactments regarding Testaments, Successions, and Donations, he introduced various regulations for improving the forms of procedure,—for ascertaining the limits of Jurisdictions,—and for effecting a greater uniformity in the execution of the jaws throughout the several provinces. These reforms constitute a sort of epoch in the history of the jurisprudence of France, and have associated his name with those illustrious benefactors of her Civil Code,—L’Hopital and Lamoignon. The Duke de Saint-Simon however, alleges, that the Chancellor’s reforms did not go so far as they would have gone, had he had less affection for his own order. He once, says this writer, confessed to a nobleman who spoke to him upon the propriety of cutting off certain lucrative abuses, that he could not bring his mind to a step which would so grievously diminish the profits of the law.